The Asymmetricity of Regional Development in Ukraine: in The Search of a Conceptual Framework of Explanation

Abstract

The article considers the possibilities of applying the central-peripheral approach to the study of the regions' development in Ukraine. The nature and the direction of demographic and migration trends in Ukraine are analyzed by the authors. The content of such phenomenon as a centralization of human and economic resources, resulting in the displacement of regions to the periphery. It was defined that the center acts as an exploiter of key resources of the regions, depriving them from opportunities for their own development. The main social indicators were identified, the measurement of which allows to assess the applicability of the central-peripheral approach to the regional system of Ukraine. These include: the demographic development of regions, the nature and the direction of migration flows, the distribution of economic and political resources between regions. It was identified that the internal migration movement manifests itself in two main forms: educational and labor migration. Educational migration has quantitative and qualitative dimensions. Thus, the center concentrates not only the largest number of applicants, but also the most successful, which creates risks for the reproduction of the intellectual potential of the regions. The need of studying the dysfunctions of the metropolitan centers of Ukraine, which contribute to the double operation of the regions, was noted. It was proven that the periphery is points as a donor of human and other resources for the center, as well as other most powerful internal metropolises, such as Lviv, which is competed as a center. According to the results of the research the main directions of further scientific investigations are determined, namely: determination of criteria for assigning territories to semi-periphery and periphery zones, further study of peripheralization mechanisms, study of ways to overcome imbalances of Ukraine's development as a socio-territorial integrity, study of foreign experience, framework for explaining regional development.