Business news from Ukraine

In the latest Savills Resilient Cities Index 2026, Ukrainian cities are not listed among the world’s most resilient cities. In the report published by Savills, New York, Tokyo, London, and Seoul once again took the top spots, retaining the first four positions compared to the previous edition of the index.
Savills defines a city’s resilience as its ability to simultaneously sustain economic growth, adapt to social and environmental challenges, and remain attractive to investors, developers, businesses, and residents. The index is based on four major assessment categories: economic fundamentals, knowledge economy and technology, ESG metrics, and the real estate market.
According to Savills, the top of the ranking continues to be dominated by the world’s largest metropolises, as it is their scale that gives them advantages in the form of a concentration of capital, talent, innovation, and liquidity in the real estate market. Apart from the top four, San Francisco emerged as a notable winner in the new edition, rising to fifth place, while among European cities, Dublin showed particularly strong momentum; Savills specifically highlights it as one of the cities that has strengthened its position most significantly in the top 20.
However, the Savills report itself does not mention any Ukrainian cities. The text mentions neither Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, nor Dnipro; instead, the main focus is on global megacities in the US, Europe, and Asia, as well as on the growing appeal of certain cities in Southern Europe.
One of the key findings of Savills 2026 is the strengthening of Southern Europe. The company explicitly states that cities in Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Greece have, on average, risen 36 positions since 2024. Madrid and Barcelona are singled out in particular, with Savills attributing their growth to strong tourism, improved economic activity, lower unemployment, and greater consumer resilience.
For Ukraine, the absence of its cities in Savills’ focus means that the country remains outside the main scope of global investment analytics on urban sustainability. This does not necessarily indicate weak future potential for Ukrainian megacities, but it shows that international consultants are currently focusing on cities with stable statistics, a predictable investment environment, and large, mature real estate markets.
From a practical standpoint, for Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, such a ranking serves as a guide to the parameters currently considered key by global investors: the quality of the urban environment, technological infrastructure, ESG considerations, the depth of the real estate market, and the city’s ability to adapt to long-term shocks. In this sense, the future competitiveness of Ukrainian cities after the war will depend not only on the scale of reconstruction but also on how well it is integrated into a modern model of sustainable urban development.
The Savills Resilient Cities Index 2026 was published in March 2026 and, according to the company, is based on an analysis conducted in January–February 2026. Savills notes that the index is now in its seventh consecutive year and is used as a benchmark for assessing the resilience of cities from an investment and real estate perspective.