Development of territorial communities and infrastructure recovery on the principles of the circular economy

<jats:p>The article aims to examine the relationship between the restoration of territorial community infrastructure in the Black Sea region and the principles of the circular economy, and to substantiate directions for integrating these principles into communities’ development strategies. The methodological basis of the study is a combined approach that integrates content analysis of the development strategies of 12 territorial communities in the Mykolaiv, Odesa, and Kherson regions, a case study of the restoration of water supply in the city of Mykolaiv, and conceptual modeling using structural equation modeling (SEM). As a result of the study, a gap emerged between the large-scale needs for infrastructure restoration and the level of integration of circular principles into communities’ strategic planning. It was determined that infrastructure issues are present in 92% of the analyzed strategies, sustainable development in 75%, energy efficiency in 58%, and waste management in 42%. At the same time, the circular economy, as a holistic approach, is present in only 17%. The example of restoring water supply in the city of Mykolaiv demonstrates the practical feasibility of resource-efficiency principles for reconstructing critical infrastructure under wartime conditions. The scientific novelty lies in the application of a combined methodology to study circular restoration and the development of a conceptual SEM model that formalizes the relationships among circular practices, infrastructure restoration, municipal governance, and socio-economic dynamics. The practical significance of the results lies in their potential use by local governments to develop strategies and programs for the comprehensive restoration of communities based on the principles of the circular economy. Prospects for further research include the empirical verification of the proposed SEM model in a representative sample of territorial communities and the quantitative assessment of the relationships among circular practices, the quality of infrastructure restoration, municipal governance, and socio-economic development. Keywords: institutional and societal resilience, public governance, infrastructure provision; development of territorial communities; circular economy; municipal governance; regional economy; sustainable development; socio-economic dynamics; content analysis.</jats:p>