LocationsKryvyi Rih: How an industrial city is shaping a new quality of life
March 5, 2026
Kryvyi Rih is an industrial city in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast with a population of 600,000. It was developed around mining and metallurgical enterprises, which led to the growth of extensive residential areas. Stretching 126 kilometres from one end to the other, Kryvyi Rih is the longest city in Europe.
These conditions provided the city with economic strength but also created several challenges: significant environmental strain, long distances between districts, aging infrastructure, and more difficult access to municipal services. After 2022, an additional challenge emerged — Kryvyi Rih received a large number of people forced to seek shelter due to the hostilities.
In response, the city has been undergoing a gradual transformation. Local services are being modernized, public spaces are being renewed, and, together with partners, efforts are underway to make this large industrial agglomeration more comfortable, accessible, and convenient for its residents.
Making the city cleaner
For years, air pollution has been one of Kryvyi Rih’s most pressing issues. Large industrial enterprises operate here, but for a long time, there was no modern system for monitoring air quality. The existing monitoring stations belonged to the enterprises themselves and often provided data that was outdated or incomplete.
Additionally, there was no effective mechanism to compel companies to install new filters or reduce emissions — without independent monitoring, proving violations was nearly impossible, explains Oksana Poluekhta, head of the Air Quality Control Department of the Kryvyi Rih City Council’s Ecology Office.
“Monitoring systems provide evidence,” Poluekhta notes. “People may complain that the air smells bad, but that is not legal proof. Monitoring data, however, has legal significance — it allows inspections to be launched and relevant authorities to be notified.”
The first steps toward change were taken in 2012, when the city began installing stationary monitoring posts. Initially, there were four, and later, in 2018, the data became available online. The stations measure nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, particulate matter, dust, carbon monoxide, and ozone.
Today, there are six such posts equipped for air-quality monitoring. One of them was installed with support from UNDP and the Government of Sweden to strengthen the city’s capacity to analyse industrial emissions, identify pollution sources in urban conditions, and assess environmental damage. The collected data is automatically transmitted to an online platform, enabling rapid responses to ecological threats and planning actions to reduce pollution. This initiative aims to implement European environmental standards and improve residents’ quality of life..
“When it comes to pollution, we’re seeing some decrease,” says Poluekhta. “There are baseline concentration indicators calculated over four years — and they have gone down. For us, this confirms that air quality is improving.”
She emphasizes that for the community, these are not just numbers but signs of real, positive changes in cooperation among the city, residents, and enterprises.
“The importance lies in transparency,” she adds. “Enterprises show their willingness to cooperate, and people are confident they receive unbiased information about what is happening. For us, it’s a tool. We can see whether a company is taking all necessary measures or not. We monitor air quality — and this is a crucial instrument for decision-making.”
Mobile administrative services: When help comes to people
Another problem that persisted in Kryvyi Rih for years was the difficulty of accessing government offices — and therefore administrative services — due to the city’s vast length. In some districts, residents had to travel tens of kilometres and take several types of transport just to obtain a single document.
The city decided to change the approach: instead of residents traveling to an Administrative Service Centre (ASC), the centre would travel to them.
This is how the “Visa mobilna” project began several years ago — mobile administrative service centres that visit remote neighbourhoods.
“As part of this project, we initially had two cargo vehicles transformed into fully functional administrative service centres,” explains Liudmyla Zelenska, head of the Administrative Services Department of the City Executive Committee. “Thanks to the support of UNDP and the EU, in July 2024 we received another vehicle, converted into a mobile centre. It’s more mobile and energy-efficient, and we use it to serve distant, densely populated areas.”
Inside the vehicle is everything needed for autonomous operation: a generator, air conditioning, heating, internet, and office equipment. Almost all services available at a stationary ASC can be obtained here. Important features also include a pull-out ramp for people with disabilities, and a canopy for protection from sun or rain for those awaiting services.
The ASC operates twice a week according to a schedule, and can also be deployed urgently — for example, after an attack.
“We’ve already conducted more than 3,000 visits,” says Zelenska. “During each visit we might serve from 20 to 120 clients. And it’s not just administrators who travel – sometimes pension fund specialists, tax officers, and water utility staff work from the vehicle as well.”
As we speak with the team, the mobile centre is heading to one of the city’s remote districts. More than ten people are already waiting there – and all of them will receive the services they need in much less time than it would take for them to travel to the main city office.
This format not only reduces queues at stationary centres but also makes public services truly accessible — regardless of where people live. It helps improve service quality and ensures stability, especially during wartime.
A new level of training for future medical workers
Kryvyi Rih is home to many educational institutions, each with its own needs for modernization. This is especially true in medical education, which requires modern methods and hands-on training.
The Kryvyi Rih Professional Medical College trains junior medical personnel, but for many years students studied using outdated equipment that no longer met contemporary requirements.
“Students today are very modern — they actively use the internet and love interactive learning,” explains the college’s director, Tetiana Babenko. “We know many methodologies, but it is essential to combine innovation, modern content, and technology. Medicine is a field that requires practice: before students can work with patients, they must train in simulation labs.”
With support from UNDP and the Government of Canada, a modern simulation training centre was established, equipped according to the standards of clinical simulation.
The centre is fitted with highly realistic mannequins capable of reproducing a wide range of physiological parameters and vital signs. This enables instructors to model various clinical scenarios — from cardiopulmonary resuscitation and cardiac arrest to respiratory disorders, shock states, and emergency situations.
The equipment also includes modern computers and furniture necessary for debriefings and performance analysis. As a result, the centre has become an integral part of the educational process, creating a comfortable environment for developing clinical skills, critical thinking, and professional competence.
“Emergency medicine is extremely important today,” Babenko notes. “Emergencies can happen at any moment. Students learn to provide first aid, immobilize injuries, apply dressings, perform peripheral catheterization, restore breathing… This is a new quality of learning. What is done with one's hands is remembered better — muscle memory and practice provide a completely different learning dimension.”
With support from UNDP and the Government of Canada, the college also established a multifunctional hall — a space for practical classes, seminars, and meetings.
This has enabled the college to achieve a new level of medical training, which is especially crucial in wartime.
“High-quality medical education is always essential,” Babenko notes. “The level of training determines how professionally treatment and rehabilitation will be provided. And the earlier quality assistance begins, the better the outcome.”
Help nearby: How social adaptation centres work
The full-scale invasion has significantly changed life in Kryvyi Rih. Today, approximately 60,000 internally displaced people live here — nearly a tenth of the entire population.
“Kryvyi Rih has essentially become a hub for people from the Kherson Oblast,” says Pavlo Dabizha, director of the City Social Services Centre. “Adaptation is very important. War has upended the city — many lives have changed. Some people need psychological help and a space where they can find support,” says Pavlo Dabizha, director of the City Social Services centre.
To address this, social adaptation hubs were created in Kryvyi Rih with support from UNDP, the EU, and the governments of Canada and Sweden, alongside the launch of multidisciplinary teams providing mobile social services. These centres support various vulnerable groups daily: people with disabilities, large families, internally displaced people, and families facing difficult circumstances. Support is offered both individually and in group settings.
“We take an individualized approach to each person and each family,” says Elina Matviichuk, a social worker at one of the centres. “Altogether more than 4,000 people have attended our group sessions.”
The centres offer more than consultations. They teach psychological self-help skills, host meetings with social-service representatives, organize thematic workshops and support groups. The space allows people to connect, share experiences, and receive professional support — helping ensure no one faces their challenges alone.
Pavlo Dabizha adds that international partners not only provided equipment and renovations but also helped create a truly comfortable space where people can receive professional assistance and find support during difficult times. Such conditions strengthen the community by helping people adapt to new circumstances, he says.
“The world is changing, and adaptation is essential,” Dabizha explains. “An indirect goal of these centres is that people meet one another, form horizontal connections, and this strengthens the community from within. A person is not left alone with their problems — they understand they are part of a community.”
The community’s path to modernizing the city
For a long time, it was believed that large industrial cities could not easily be transformed into modern, people-centred, and comfortable places. Their scale and industrial nature supposedly made change too difficult.
But the experience of Kryvyi Rih proves this wrong. Step by step, the city is modernizing its infrastructure, improving service accessibility, and developing social and educational spaces — all through the combined efforts of local authorities, an active community, and partners.
There is still much work ahead, but the results are already tangible: updated services, new learning and support spaces, and growing opportunities for connection. Changes that once seemed unattainable are now becoming part of everyday life — helping to build a more people-friendly city.
Photo credit: Kostiantyn Levchenko / UNDP in Ukraine
The story was prepared as part of the campaign “Ukraine Delivers,” a joint initiative by the Ministry for the Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the State Agency for Restoration and Development of Infrastructure of Ukraine.
Related
content
content
