The phenomenon of sociocultural urban waste: to articulation of the problem

Abstract

This article reviews the phenomenon of sociocultural waste as a special type of waste inevitably forms in the process of metabolism of the modern urbanized areas. It is noted that the idea of studying the phenomenon of waste applicable to the sphere of culture not only retains its importance, but is constantly put to the forefront due to mass sociocultural activity and its transformations, affected by implementing into the urban life of newest technical systems, and associated with them information technologies and increase of ecological factor in the development of urbanized environment. In methodological regard, the work leans on the concept of social metabolism, viewed as a system of dynamic transformations of social reality under the influence of factors that have social, technical-technological and biological nature. The urban sociocultural waste is defined as a complex of products of cultural activity of the residents, which under the certain conditions cannot be used for restoration of city and urban community based on the principle of social conjunction, remain non-demanded by the majority of residents, not attributed to as value and are potentially or actually socially destructive (“socially toxic”). The author substantiates the criteria for determining waste among all: dysfunctionality, limited demand, public devaluation, potential destructiveness. A conclusion is formulated that municipal authorities and community for the benefit of development of urbanized environment would objectively have to determine the target strategy for social waste.