Introduction. Accelerated introduction of modern IC technologies in all areas of the country's social life, development of the digital economy and the national information infrastructure, integration to the global information space and improvement of information security conditions are the strategic objectives of the development of information society in Ukraine. Furthermore, recent years are characterised by active creation of new network organisation forms and cluster cooperation in the IT sphere based on joint endeavours of IT companies, scientific and educational establishments, NGOs and other actors. Organisation of clusters in the IT sphere contributes to not only the optimisation of economic processes management in the course of creation, introduction and use of information technologies and products and services of IT companies, but also to forming of powerful integrated groupings with high economic capacity, which is essential for the development of the national economy.Purpose. The paper aims to analyse both the institutional and investment environment, in which regional IT-clusters develop, in particular the features, tendencies and priorities of their functioning to assess the role of venture capital in the development of the IT sector in Ukraine and to define the strategic directions to improve the instruments of public policy relevant to the development IT clusters in forming of an innovation ecosystem. Methods. Fundamental provisions and principles of innovative development theories and concepts of clustering, economic convergence and integration, diffusion of innovations and place-based innovation systems constitute the methodological basis of the research. Structural-functional and factor analyses are applied in order to reveal major tendencies and preconditions of the development IT sector in Ukraine and to evaluate the impact of venture capital on its establishment and activation. A Multi-factor regression analysis is conducted to perform econometric modeling of the impact of institutional features peculiar to the impact of the entrepreneurship activity environment on the development of the IT sector and forming of its investment capacity in Ukraine. The measures to improve the mechanism to assist the development of IT clusters in forming of an innovation ecosystem are suggested as a result of using the system approach.Results. The authors of the article have elaborated suggestions relating to the improvement of the public IT sector development policy in Ukraine. The intensity of the impact of venture capital on the establishment and development of the IT sector in Ukraine is assessed. The dynamics of exports of Ukrainian IT outsourcing products is researched. It shows that IT outsourcing is one of the most dynamic and leading directions of the IT sector in Ukraine. The evaluation of the impact of entrepreneurship activity and institutional environment on the development of the sphere of information technologies and forming of its investment capacity (the system of venture investment) is conduct...

The paper attempts to defi ne Berlin's functional profi le, contrasting it with the expectations and evaluations of the last twenty years. By analyzing employment and investment shares according to sections of the economy (the SIC index) several activities are identifi ed which fulfi l the following criteria: they are representative of Berlin, they show progressive development trends, and their role is refl ected in the structure of investment outlays. In the analysis, the location co-effi cient is used, which allows for the identifi cation of the characteristic features of Berlin's functional profi le against the national average structure. The analysis proves that Berlin has been developing in a relatively ambiguous manner, though its functional specialization is rather stable, in that it has experienced only slight structural changes since the beginning of the 1990s. It is also observed that the position of Berlin in the German urban system is quite stable. In this context, the question is posed as to whether Warsaw's position in the Polish urban system, as expressed in its functional profi le, should, when one considers all the parallels and differences, resemble or not the one held by Berlin in Germany.

In this article the future evolution of the settlement system of Poland is discussed using selected scenarios anticipated for the European space. For this purpose two alternative reference scenarios are outlined and examined in the light of some specific characteristics of Poland's metropolitan development. The questions posed in this context involve the sustainability of policy assumptions concerning the role of cities of various size categories, as well as factors that could lead to a discontinuity in the trends observed in metropolisation.

Growing spatial mobility is a challenge to cities in many ways. It brings positive development impulses and social diversity, but at the same time contributes to a decomposition of existing structures and is a challenge to planning. Under the conditions of the obvious signum temporis -an intensifying hyper-diversity and a growing liquidity of values with weakening social bonds and a less evident physical rootedness, the question should be posed whether urban places can still sustain their interactive local identity based on social solidarity, mutual support and trust. The problem is tested on the example of two districts of Warsaw -Praga Północ and Ursynów. In the search for regularities in the relation between the level of social diversity on one side and social solidarity on the other, the analysis focuses on the areas characterised by fundamental differences in their historic development, built environment and social structure. Key wordssocial diversity • social solidarity • post-socialist city • Warsaw • Praga Północ • Ursynów "The cross-links that enable a district to function as a Thing are neither vague nor mysterious. They consist of working relationships among specific people, many of them without much more in common than that they share a fragment of geography" (Jacobs 1961:54)

No abstract