A 5-Year Smart City Strategy for Kharkiv Presented in Barcelona

07 November 2025

On November 5, Kharkiv IT Cluster presented a five-year Smart City development strategy for Kharkiv in Barcelona — in partnership with Deloitte and the Kharkiv City Council.

The presentation took place together with Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov at Smart City Expo World Congress — the world’s largest event dedicated to innovative urban solutions. For Kharkiv, a city located 40 km from the frontline, this strategy is not only a development plan but also a roadmap to recovery, security, and technological resilience.

What is a Smart City and how does it work?

A Smart City is not a futuristic concept, but a practical city management system where decisions are driven by data.

For instance, street sensors transmit traffic information, and the system automatically adjusts traffic lights to reduce congestion. Residents can report infrastructure issues through an app — without bureaucracy or queues. Energy use, transportation, security, ecology — everything is integrated into a unified network that enables swift and efficient responses.

A Smart City is when a city functions as a living organism, where technology isn’t a goal in itself but a tool that makes life more convenient, safer, and more transparent.

From concept to real solutions

Kharkiv IT Cluster has been involved in Smart City development since 2018, when the city began implementing its first innovative solutions — now forming the foundation of the new strategy. Key examples include:

• Kharkiv’s Situation Centre — a single coordination hub for all emergency response services. Operating 24/7, it instantly detects emergencies, assesses impact, coordinates rescue teams, and has already saved thousands of lives.
• CCTV and video analytics system — increases public safety by enabling rapid response from security services.
• Digital transformation of education and business — dozens of digital hubs and labs in schools and colleges, digital skills programs, and support for SMEs transitioning to online tools.

These are Smart City elements that already work — and they formed the backbone of the new strategy developed by Deloitte jointly with the City Council and the tech community.

The new strategy: Smart City by design

The five-year Smart City strategy for Kharkiv combines technological architecture, urban development vision, and a security-driven approach. It is built on four key principles:

• Human-centricity — solutions are built around citizens’ needs, not administrative processes.
• Security-by-design — every service is developed considering wartime risks and cybersecurity threats.
• System integration and interoperability — all systems are interconnected so the city operates as a unified structure.
• Test before invest — validating solutions in real environments via a living lab approach before scaling citywide.

The overall city development vision was designed by world-renowned urbanist Norman Foster, author of landmark projects in London, Berlin, New York, and Hong Kong.

The strategy was developed in close cooperation with the Kharkiv City Council and with the direct involvement of the Mayor. Constant communication between city authorities, Deloitte analysts, and Kharkiv IT Cluster experts ensured alignment between the technological vision and the real needs of the community — making the process highly practical and results-driven.

During his speech, Ihor Terekhov emphasized that the future of Kharkiv lies in digital technologies.

“This is the exact direction that will elevate our city’s post-war recovery to an entirely new level. We don’t want to just rebuild Kharkiv — we want to make it even better: modern, secure, energy-efficient and high-tech. And we are already taking decisive steps toward that goal,” said the Mayor.

Global context and Kharkiv as Europe’s living lab

Global Smart City leaders include Singapore, Barcelona, Copenhagen, and Tallinn — where digital systems manage air quality monitoring, transport, energy consumption, and integrated citizen services.

In Kharkiv — unlike in peaceful megacities — a Smart City also means military and civilian security, survival, and adaptability in crisis. This makes the city a unique testing ground for solutions that can later scale across Ukraine and Europe.

Kharkiv IT Cluster, together with Deloitte and city authorities, is shaping a model of a city that is not just smart, but anti-fragile — capable of not only enduring challenges, but growing stronger through them.

What does this mean for the city and its people?

For Kharkiv, the Smart City strategy enables a shift from reaction to prediction.

It will help:

• reduce emergency response times to seconds;
• make services transparent and interactions with authorities simple;
• ensure digital security, traffic control, and energy management;
• attract investors who seek reliable digital infrastructure;
• create new jobs in tech and urban development.

“A Smart City is first and foremost about people. The people who live, work, study, rebuild, and defend this city every single day. Technology is simply the tool that helps them feel safe, supported, and confident in the future. We are building the future for them,” — emphasizes Olga Shapoval, Executive Director of Kharkiv IT Cluster.

The role of Kharkiv IT Cluster

Kharkiv IT Cluster serves as a strategic expert partner and a member of the Smart City architectural working group — from idea to technical implementation.

Together with Deloitte and the Kharkiv City Council, the Cluster is building the systemic foundation of the city’s future. As the coordinator of the international project Eastern Ukraine EDIH and a contact point of Enterprise Europe Network, the Cluster also ensures Kharkiv’s integration into global digital ecosystems.

Kharkiv has the potential to become the first frontline city in Europe that does not simply rebuild — but creates a model for the city of the future.

Want to be part of Smart City development in Kharkiv? Join Kharkiv IT Cluster

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