CONFLICTS IN URBAN SPACE AND POST-INDUSTRIAL URBAN TRANSFORMATIONS

Kharkiv is a modern city in the transition to post-industrial development, with significant migratory attractiveness, high level of urbanization, binational and bilingual population, implementation of a number of socio-economic development projects. Today, the city is not only the localization of many opportunities for the development of society and man, but also an area of increased conflictogenity. The purpose of the study is to identify the main urban conflicts during the post-industrial transition, which arise as a reaction to urban transformations and the action of external national processes and the establishment of the main stakeholders of urban changes and conflicts. The study found that the manifestations and degree of conflictogenity in the city depends on its place in the global urban gradation, and therefore, Kharkiv has a high level of conflictogenity, which is confirmed by the frequency of urban conflicts. The study identified factors of high conflictogenity in Kharkiv, which are due to its historical, cultural and socio-economic development. The following conflicts arise in the city: migration, which are caused by pendulum migrations of the population from peripheral areas to the city, forced migrations from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine; ethno-national, due to the competition of the Ukrainian-Russian population, conflicts with national minorities living in the city; urban and property conflicts, which arise mainly between representatives of local authorities, stakeholders and the local population. Urban conflicts affect urban processes, change the urban landscape and reduce the city’s attractiveness. We emphasize the need for further comprehensive socio-geographical studies of urban processes in cities, in particular the emergence of conflicts, identifying factors of conflict, the impact of urban conflicts on the socio-geographical landscape and developing models to find effective solutions to conflicts in the city.

NEW TOOLS FOR NEW URBAN SPACES? ANALYSES OF PLANNING AND PARTICIPATION TOOLS AND THEIR PERFORMANCE IN (POST)TRANSITIONAL PERSPECTIVE

For a long timepost-socialist countries served as a space for interaction between multiple transformations, urban policy changes and urban planning adjustments on the one hand, and challenging institutional and socio-cultural legacy, on the other. What are the outcomes of these interactions and how the urban space is changing? How effective aretraditional (“old”) and newly established planning and participation tools? To what extent does the current system meet the expectations of different stakeholders? These are the main issues to discuss in the paper. For this aim we use the experience of Ukrainian planning system changes in (post)transitional perspective, focusing on several planning and participation tools and their performance both on the national and local level. The impact of the main planning and participation tools on the urban transformations in Ukraine is critically considered in the paper, discussing their outcomes from different perspectives. The local context of using particular tools is discussed through the cases of two cities - Kryvyi Rih and Kherson; this allows to trace the logic of the planning process and practices of urban restructuring, notably by using the tools ofparticipation. Using in-depth interview data,the paper is aimed at revealing how different stakeholders perceive the main planning and participation tools as well as evaluate their effectiveness. Thus, we rethink the changes of planning and participation tools in (post)transitional perspective, their role in urban development processes,their performance in various local contexts and also their compliance with the declared goals and interests of different stakeholder groups.

URBAN RENEWAL PLANNING IN GERMAN CITIES – A GOVERNANCE ANALYSIS

The European Union and Germany strive for a “green and just Europe” with a climate-neutral building stock, net zero land consumption and cities of social cohesion and cultural identity. Thus, urban renewal as the protection and cautious re-modelling of socio-material urban fabrics re-gains topicality. Urban renewal is neither a new nor an easy mode of urban development: West Germany experienced the first heydays of urban renewal planning in 1960s and 70s; big constructions works triggered civil protests and spurred institutional changes, namely the introduction of citizen participation in planning. Since then, the planning and local political institutions have continued to change oscillating between neoliberal and ‘citizen democratic reforms’. So far, however, the German planning research has ignored these changes and the evolving experiences of urban renewal. This paper steps in here: It aims at a critical review of the local practices of renewal planning in German cities today. Starting from the governance concept, the paper reveals key characteristics of and interdependencies among the local stakeholder groups in urban renewal – i.e. planners, politicians, citizens and activists, private entrepreneurs. It shows (1) how the formal political and planning institutions pre-frame the actors’ opportunities and interdependencies, and how they use leeway differently due to specific informal institutions. The paper (2) points at the tight and critical interdependency between the local political bodies and the planning departments, which differs importantly from some Eastern European contexts. Finally, the paper reveal (3) some new challenges that are the un-explored local effects of citizen participation and ppp-cooperation in German renewal planning today: It becomes evident that participatory and cooperative renewal planning is still a demanding learning process in Germany without easy nor final receipts.

SHIFTS IN URBAN PLANNING IN BELARUS? EXPERIENCE FROM BREST

For long urban planning in post-Soviet Europe has missed scholarly attention in international urban studies, though it has changed fundamentally in the last three decades. The systemic upheaval in the early 1990s questioned the basics of the Soviet mode of modernist urban planning. The latter relied on the quantification and predictability of people’s needs, a strong state power and law enforcement through centralized planning, control and resources management (e.g. property). The latest since the 2010s, urban planning revives in the non-EU Eastern European states: ‘New’ urban planning instruments emerge; the so far sidelined citizens voice increasingly their interests; urban planning becomes an important arena for the contention and (re)production of both, the daily livelihood and the broader state-society relations often impregnated by (authoritarian) neoliberalism. The paper takes up this general observation and explores the example of Brest in Belarus. It reviews the local planning approaches (i.e. instruments, contents and processes) in Brest and discusses how they blend in the current EU and post-Soviet debates. The paper concludes that the Brest planning (re)produces a mode of gradual post-Soviet transformation: It displays a surprising familiarity with EU leitmotifs (contents) and principles (e.g. law enforcement and state subsidies) for urban planning. At the same time, it confronts with the benefits and constraints of maintained Soviet planning traits, e.g. with the high professionalism and the centrality of state planning hierarchies. The case of Brest reveals how local stakeholder alliances co-produce new opportunities for local urban planning and thus for an incremental change in Belarusian planning by engaging with the central state institutions as well as with the international debates.

PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING PRACTICES AND CIVIC ACTIVISM FOR URBAN SPACE RENOVATION: THE CASE OF KHERSON

The article presents the results of the participatory budgeting research and urban activism in the renovation of the urban space of Kherson, and analyzes the modern features of urban space transformation.Participatory planning and budgeting today are the guidelines for the development of new, joint and integrated decisions in strategic development of the community. However, the Kherson city case study proved urban activism on issues of participatory budgeting to be small-scale in nature, which means that 2-5% of the city community is involved in budgeting, and the total cost of approved projects is less than 0.5% of the average annual city’s budget. Urban activism is quite sporadic beyond the participatory budgeting, which is the result of “small initiatives” of individual creative groups and entrepreneurs, rather than a strategic plan for spatial development of the community.The participatory budgeting in the Kherson city community development is still pseudo-participatory in its nature, given that much of decisions are aimed at solving the current domestic and communal problems, rather than implementing the agenda or strategic goals of community development. In the era of actual city deindustrialization, Kherson should not only be positioned as one of the leaders in foreign and domestic tourism, but also restore its status of a comfortable city and a unique recreational and logistics center. The article presents the author’s vision of the planning decisions and urban activism prospects in the urban spaces’ transformation. The key points are the next: 1) renovation and revitalization of urban space should be carried out primarily by creating different types and functional purposes of creative spaces (new formats of recreation, communication, information education, inclusive environment development); 2) creation or renovation of existing public spaces should be carried out only with the involvement of participatory management mechanisms in order to provide the city with the functional content really needed by the community; 3) a particular strategic direction of urban space renovation should aim at the increase of green public spaces and benefiting from the unique Kherson city community location at the mouth of the Dnieper.

FROM NEOLIBERAL PRACTICES TO THE PARTICIPATIVE DEMOCRACY OF INTEGRATED URBAN DEVELOPMENT: THE PATH OF RESIDENTIAL HOUSING IN “LIKO-GRAD” KYIV

Most major cities in Ukraine are experiencing widespread use of neoliberal approaches in urban planning and governance. These approaches are focused on economic priorities and the accumulation of capital by individual government-private coalitions both for new urban projects and practices of modifying urban space in areas of existing development. They ignore the needs of the local people, who, in turn, do not have a deep awareness of their importance and role in making management decisions regarding urban development. Simultaneously with the application of neoliberal urban practices, some integrated urban development projects are being implemented in a number of cities or districts of cities of Ukraine within the framework of international technical assistance and exchange programs. They provide opportunities for all segments of society to understand the consequences of decision-making in a particular area. These efforts increase the importance of this research task which aims to analyze the processes of public participation in urban decision-making and the formation of integration in new local and multi-family residential housing development in Kyiv where there is no involvement in international cooperation in integrated urban development. The authors consider these issues using the example of the new “Liko-Grad” residential development. Our working hypothesis examines the dominance of neoliberal urban practices prevailing in such areas. The results of a survey of residents, conducted in 2018 and 2020, raises issues related to integrated development, the inclusiveness of urban space and the extent of involvement of residents in decision-making related to housing and urban landscape. These results as well as expert analysis of open-source data about the development, help to understand that the residential complex “Liko-Grad” which was built by a developer based on neoliberal management decisions. The potential residents were unable to participate in the decision-making process on building and planning the infrastructure. Today, in the process of community formation, residents reveal they are somewhat satisfied with the level of landscaping and are taking the first steps to address certain issues as evidenced by their active participation in social networks and some non-systematic landscaping activities and other small projects within the public budget. The survey also revealed low levels of job opportunities, social infrastructure, poor street infrastructure, and public transport needs as well as a low level of urban inclusion. These results, together with the lack of business activities and function, do not enable the residents of “Liko-Grad” to become a multifunctional urban space according to the integrated approaches designed for this space. We conclude that the path of Ukrainian cities to participatory democracy is just emerging; it requires a deep awareness of local communities of its importance of such efforts and also incorporating management decisions which affect the interests of all residents.

System of Geographical Sciences: Ukrainian Experience in the Context of Modern Subject Transformation)

The subject transformation of Ukrainian geographical science demonstrates the strengthening of the monistic approach, which considers the Earth’s envelope as an integral socio-natural geosphere, in which the natural environment and man with his economic and spiritual activity are inextricably linked. Accordingly, one of the main directions of modern methodological developments is the geographical sciences systematization according to their composition and their multilevel ordering on the basis of the unity and integrity of the common object of geographical research - the landscape envelope of the Earth. The article proposes the authors’ scheme of the modern system of geographical sciences, in which the structuring of geographical researches directions is carried out according to the following basic principles: a) the system of geographical sciences is developed not in the list of relevant subjects and disciplines, but in the main areas of geographical research; b) the theoretical and methodological core of the geographical sciences system should be the direction of general integrated geographical research; c) directions of geographical researches and corresponding subject areas and disciplines are organized according to the levels of the landscape envelope structural organization and divided into global (geospheric), regional (country studies, regional studies) and local (environmental and socio-natural activities); d) the proposed systematics does not directly take into account the traditional division of geographical sciences and disciplines into basic - auxiliary - servicing.

PRIORITY RATING OF COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD FOR UKRAINE’S NATIONAL INTERESTS

After the Russian occupation of Crimea and a part of Donbas the political and geographical position of Ukraine as well as its positioning in the modern world significantly changed. Previously, Ukraine had placed greater focus on non-bloc status in the multipolar world and on development of mutually beneficial bilateral relations with all its partners. For this reason, it is very important to calculate the country priority rating for Ukraine. This rating contains two groups of indicators from all spheres of interstate relations. The first group shows the current level of interaction and the second group shows the importance of states in the modern world. From six priority groups of countries the top-priority for Ukraine is cooperation with Germany, the USA, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Canada, Spain and Switzerland. The second priority group includes most of European countries (such as the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Portugal, Hungary, Romania, Norway, Iceland, Finland, Slovakia), Japan, Israel, Australia, South Korea, Turkey and Singapore. Contrary to popular belief of supporters of indispensable friendship with Russia this country is not so important for cooperation nowadays and, moreover, it is not a landmark for the future as it is only in the third priority group. This group also includes Bulgaria, Malaysia, China, New Zealand, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Thailand, Brazil, etc.Cooperation with more prosperous countries will help to get rid of the negative moments of Russian colonization, to reach higher economic and socio-political standards. With certain modifications this rating can be used for calculation of cooperation priority ratings for any country in the world.

HUMAN-GEOGRAPHICAL FACTORS OF FINANCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT IN THE WESTERN REGION OF UKRAINE

The article provides a brief analysis of socio-geographical factors that have a decisive influence on the formation of financial infrastructure in the Western region of Ukraine. Traditional and innovative factors that are stimulating and limiting are highlighted. Among the main factors, emphasis is placed on geographical location, historical and geographical features, economic and geographical, socio-geographical, international cooperation and investment flows. The development of the financial network is not only under the influence of regional factors, but also in line with national and global trends. Despite the fact that the financial infrastructure of the state began to form with independence in 1991, and in the Western region the first prototype network of financial infrastructure began to form in the XVII century, today it is still in its infancy. However, this makes it possible to build the financial infrastructure in accordance with today’s challenges. For the sake of balanced development it is necessary to take into account the factors that not only promote development, but also inhibit it. The financial infrastructure is characterized by significant diversification, so special attention is paid to the factors that are inherent in each component. Banking, credit infrastructure and the infrastructure of mutual investment institutions are more developed in contrast to other components. Socio-geographical factors affect each individually and together, thus showing a synergistic effect. The peculiarity of these factors is also their multiplier effect, which is traced in the chain changes during the transformation of the factor itself. The geographical location of the region has a positive impact on the development of financial infrastructure, which is reflected in the developed network of international and national transport corridors, which provides trade growth, as well as strong international, including cross-border, cooperation in many sectors.