REGULATORY AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SMART URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE SYSTEM OF PUBLIC GOVERNANCE

Abstract

The article is devoted to a comprehensive analysis of the regulatory and legal framework
for the development of smart urban infrastructure within the system of public governance in Ukraine. It is substantiated that the effectiveness, adaptability, and sustainability of smart cities are determined not only
by the level of technological maturity of digital solutions, but primarily by the quality of the regulatory,
legal, and institutional environment within which urban systems are governed. The study identifies the
main groups of regulatory and legal acts in the fields of public administration and local self-government,
digital governance, electronic communications, cybersecurity, public service delivery, investment activity,
and public–private partnership. It is demonstrated that, despite the existence of an extensive body of
regulations, the legal regulation of smart infrastructure development in Ukraine is characterized by
fragmentation, the absence of a unified conceptual and methodological approach, and insufficient
integration with management cycles of strategic planning, budgeting, and monitoring at the local level. It is
established that smart initiatives are often implemented as isolated digital projects that are not
systematically linked to the institutional powers of local self-government bodies.
The expediency of forming an integrated framework for the legal regulation of smart urban
development is substantiated, which is considered not as a separate regulatory act, but as an
institutionalized digital-governance architecture. Such a framework should ensure vertical coherence of
regulatory regulation, horizontal integration of sectoral policies, unity of the conceptual and
methodological framework, and the integration of smart infrastructure into the full cycle of public
governance. The practical significance of the results lies in the possibility of their application by local selfgovernment bodies in the development of strategies, programs, and regulatory acts aimed at the systemic
and sustainable development of smart cities in the context of digital transformation and post-war recovery