CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT CONCEPT THROUGH THE PRISM OF TRANSFORMATION OF THE UKRAINIAN ECONOMY

Abstract

The approaches used by international organizations, Ukrainian and foreign scholars to determine the meaning of "local development" were analyzed in the articles. It is proven that the reconstruction of the political, social and economic system in Ukraine has many aspects. One of them, as it should be considered very important, is the local dimension of the changes taking place. The starting point for defining the concept of local development is to answer the question what do the terms: local, local scale, local community, local authority mean, and how to define development. Locality – often treated as a distinguishing feature – relates to a relatively small area. The local system, delimited according to the parameters of the administrative division, should also take into account the results of such features as: historical past, specific socio-economic, cultural and even geographical features. The local scale covers the territory with a diversified surface, characterized by economic, social, cultural and political homogeneity and a common broadly understood identity. Residents, through the local authority (local self-government), have the right to decide on all matters relating to the local community, with the exception of reserved for state institutions”. This rule applies to both meeting the needs in the field of servicing everyday life and making decisions about socio-economic development. However, it should be remembered that to activate a permanent, irreversible dynamics of development, the local scale must, however, represent an appropriate critical mass, expressed in the appropriate density of institutions, the number of actors in local life and the necessary relations between them and with the external environment. Based on the analyzed approaches to the definition of local development, it is justified that it should be supplemented by competitiveness – the activities of the socio-economic system in an environment of competition for limited development resources. Territorial communities, having internal resources and being in a common external environment for all, seek to maximize their own benefits, thus achieving predetermined strategic development goals.