Last year was no easier for cities than 2022. Although the initial shock and uncertainty since the beginning of the full-scale war have dissolved and communities have tried to adapt to the new conditions, the number of challenges has only increased. All this was accompanied by constant attacks on infrastructure and residential buildings, psychological exhaustion, and often a lack of workers. Internally displaced persons and relocated businesses have opened up both new opportunities for the development of cities and have become an additional burden on their infrastructure. The need to integrate IDPs into the life of the community, provide them with housing and work, and create favorable conditions for entrepreneurs—the rear cities have faced all these issues.

The second adapted study of city transparency, which was presented by the Transparent Cities program in April, showed that in 2023, only 5 cities were recognized as transparent: Dnipro, Drohobych, Lviv, Mukachevo, and Ternopil. 23 cities were granted the status of partially transparent, and the remaining 52 were recognized as non-transparent. The overall level of transparency of the 80 municipalities in 2023 increased moderately and amounts to 42.3%. Moreover, among the 70 city councils that participated in the 2022 and 2023 studies, 30 cities improved their transparency levels by 5% or more. 

Such data indicate that cities can function effectively even in conditions of personnel shortages, power cuts, and literally under air attacks. Transparency International Ukraine and Transparent Cities welcome this progress and are ready to cooperate to improve results with all cities that understand the value of transparency.

Today, we are going to take a closer look at the results of Lviv, one of the five transparent cities. By the way, the city was among the three leaders that were recognized as transparent in the previous study.

Since the first year of the full-scale war, the city has become a refuge for many IDPs. Some of them used Lviv as a transit point for evacuation abroad, while others settled in the city. According to the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, the number of IDPs in Lviv is about 100,000. Moreover, it was Lviv oblast that hosted the highest number of relocated businesses. However, the city also suffered from air attacks and had its civilian infrastructure damaged. All this required additional efforts and resources on the part of local governments. Read on to find out how Lviv countered the challenges, which governance practices can be viewed as successful, and which spheres require additional efforts to increase the transparency of governance. 

There are many areas in which Lviv was successful. According to our research, only 15 out of 80 cities published the exact list and titles of draft decisions in the field of land relations in the draft agendas of the council meetings. The way Lviv did it can be considered a good practice of municipal transparency.

Lviv City Council is among the 5 cities in which all the officials under study voluntarily submitted e-declarations (mayor, secretary, executive committee manager). This was also done by the city councils of Zviahel, Kryvyi Rih, Lubny, and Chervonohrad. 

The city council uses an e-platform for complaints; educational institutions have provided remote applications for enrollment in schools and kindergartens; and social services can be arranged online. In addition, Lviv is among the five cities conducting auctions for the placement of trade objects on the streets. Kyiv, Irpin, Ternopil, and Khmelnytskyi share this practice.

However, in the field of electronic tools, Lviv is outside the top ten in terms of implementation (preceded by Mukachevo, Drohobych, Khmelnytskyi, Kamianske, Ternopil, Dnipro, Vinnytsia, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Pokrov). In 2023, it was not possible to apply for housing online in Lviv. In addition, the city council did not respond to petitions, even those that had a sufficient number of votes. This significantly limited the opportunities for citizens to convey their problems and requests to the authorities. 

It is the introduction of e-tools and ensuring the possibility for citizens to receive services online that Lviv should pay special attention to. After all, in wartime conditions, they allow for optimizing resources, reducing the number of employees involved and the time for accepting applications. In addition, it is a transparent way to provide services, and it gives a sense of inclusiveness: all social groups, regardless of their status and capabilities, including financial ones, have access. After all, the possibility of filing a complaint or petition is an important tool for engaging citizens in decision-making or responding to current issues. 

The sphere of responding to the challenges of the war also needs improvement. In 2023, the IDP Council was not established under the city council. Given the number of IDPs in the city (as of January 1, there were more than 97,000 applications), the establishment of such a council will allow displaced persons to enhance their voice and influence local politics. In addition, at the time of the study, there was no program for the economic and social development of the city, which considers wartime and post-war challenges. In 2023, the city council (namely the municipal institution City Institute) did not report either on the humanitarian aid received or the criteria for its distribution. It should be noted that without proper reporting, it will be difficult to maintain the proper level of humanitarian support from partners.

In order for Lviv to be able to maintain this decent level and become even more transparent, the Transparent Cities program recommends:

• Providing opportunities for monitoring the work of the authorities, reporting on the operation of the city council, as well as on the work of subordinate institutions and organizations; publishing reports on aid received and distributed.
• Resuming opportunities for remote applications for services,such as housing services, as well as monitoring the proper functioning of tools that provide for the interaction of the authorities with the community, in particular responding to all petitions from citizens.
• Publishing an up-to-date list of open data sets that are mandatory for publication by the city council, executive bodies, and legal entities. What is needed is a list of datasets that need to be published, not a file containing information on the total number of datasets currently uploaded to the open data portal.
• Ensuring that citizens have proper access to decision-making processes through: 

- allowing citizens to properly review future meetings of the city council and its bodies (publication of information on a) the date of the meeting, b) a link to the stream, c) a link to the agenda / a list of issues);

- publishing announcements of the Board of the City Council;

- streaming all meetings of all standing commissions.

• Ensuring transparent accounting and management of municipal property and land by publishing:

- a list of all movable property objects that the city council has identified as valuable (transport, machinery, special equipment, gear, company cars, furniture, tools, etc.);

- the period of the permit validity, the number, and the date of conclusion of the agreement in the advertising register. 

The program appreciates the interaction with city councils and is grateful for their efforts to increase transparency. Continuing to implement the best practices of integrity and accountability in such a difficult time is crucial for all parties. Therefore, the Transparent Cities program expresses its gratitude to Lviv, which demonstrates a high level of openness and strives to improve the quality of interaction with citizens from year to year.

The team strives to make all local self-government bodies more transparent and open to the public, so we are ready to cooperate with representatives of municipalities and active citizens. If you have questions or need personalized recommendations for your city, write to us at transparent-cities@ti-ukraine.org If you represent civil society, we will be glad to share more and include you in our mailing and further training.