Memory and Loss in Post-war Smart City Reconstruction: Digital Archives and Cultural Heritage in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine

This study examines how digital archives and smart city technologies can preserve collective memory during Zaporizhzhia’s post-war rebuilding. Using digital archival research, it explores how digital archives can safeguard intangible heritage (oral histories, traditions, community memory) and architectural heritage during reconstruction. The article reviews scholarship on cultural memory in conflict, digital preservation, and smart city heritage, presenting a study of 312 Zaporizhzhia residents and expert interviews with urban planners, heritage professionals, and technologists. Survey results show strong public support for integrating digital memorial projects into city planning, though participation remains moderate. The discussion offers policy recommendations for preserving history during rebuilding. The article argues that integrating digital archives into smart city reconstruction can bridge the past and the future, honouring loss while building resilient cultural memory.