In order to accelerate decentralisation, the Parliament needs to adopt a number of laws, in particular those that will enable the establishment of amalgamated hromadas around the cities of oblast significance, said Ihor Parasyuk, director of the PULSE project, during an interview. He stressed the need for the adoption of the law on urban agglomerations and the law on the voluntary accession of hromadas of villages and settlements to hromadas of cities of oblast significance.

“These two laws should be concerned at first, because then we will receive a “critical mass of the reform”, and because over the world the cities and suburbs or agglomerations create the main part of gross added value, and all intellectual potential, all the innovative potential is exactly there. Besides, the cities can develop harmoniously only in unison with their suburban areas, because it is a single economic organism. And "internal borders" within these establishments only complicate life and inhibit economic growth.

It is also important that, after the adoption of these two laws, the relevant amendments are made to the Land Code. Hromadas should have the land outside settlements within the boundaries of their AHs in their jurisdiction. And not only the agricultural land provided by the Cabinet of Ministers’ recently adopted resolution. Previously, even this was not the case. Imagine, the powers of councils in hromadas that comprise several settlements ended up with the boundaries of these settlements!

If we are talking about urban agglomeration, then we must realise that this category of land (agricultural land) is not important for the cities. The cities consider the land of absolutely other categories to be significant: that for public and residential construction, industry, transport, communications, recreation. Therefore, it is important that when the law on amalgamation of cities and neighbouring rural hromadas into a single AH is adopted, the "land between them" is within the jurisdiction of this new large AH. These territories will allow developing cities and attracting investments that are known to be the key to the growth of the economy of any country.”

Full text of Ihor Parasyuk's interview is available HERE

Previously, the expert Ivan Lukerya claimed that about 20 urban AHs have already been established in Ukraine. They are examples of how effectively the city works with the villages that have joined it.