The role of agroholdings in inclusive development of united territorial communities and districts: synergetic effect of decentralization

Abstract

The aim of the article is to substantiate the synergetic relationship between the consequences of decentralization of authorities and governance constituting the formation of united territorial communities (UTCs) and new districts and the role of agricultural holdings in creating an inclusive environment within these socio-spatial formations. The methodological basis of the study consists of systemic, synergetic, geographical, socio-economic approaches, which together form an interdisciplinary research paradigm. The methods of analysis and synthesis, deduction and induction, SWOT-analysis, methods of comparison, statistics, and sociology are used to examine the processes occurring in rural areas as a result of reforming the basic and district levels of the administrative-territorial organization and their transition to the principles of inclusiveness with the active participation of agricultural holdings. The analysis of socio-economic and political processes occurring within the UTCs and districts has contributed to the identification of their orientation in the following directions: forming the rural-urban agglomerations of the convergent-continuum type; revealing the complementary relationship between agricultural, rural, and inclusive development, which forms the preconditions for the creation of welfare inclusion within the specified space; determining the dimensions of inclusive development of UTCs and districts; disclosing the priority role of agricultural holdings as activators of the process of creating inclusion, provided that they increase their social responsibility for the results of their own economic activities and establish a harmonious partnership between government, business, and society. The originality and novelty of the study lie in the use of the synergies effect in the analysis of interconnected phenomena consolidated by a single focus on the formation of the rural and inclusive environment as decent living conditions for local people, socially-oriented business, and the establishment of efficient rural self-government with the participation of large agri-food companies of the holding type. The article substantiates the conditions, directions, and ways to transform the agricultural holdings into activators of inclusive development of UTCs and districts, which can be used in the process of practical activity of local governments and business entities.