Changes In Socioeconomic Structure Research Articles

Understanding people’s interactions with urban greenspace: Case studies in Eastern Europe

This study explored and compared people’s interactions with urban greenspace (UGS) using case studies in three Eastern European countries – Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine. These countries have experienced radical changes in governance systems and socio-economic structures, characteristic of a transition from planned to market economies. Recently, Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine have been arenas for armed conflicts, which have dramatically heightened instability throughout the region. Urban planners in Eastern Europe therefore urgently need context-relevant knowledge to facilitate the critical work of (re-)building more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities. An unrestricted, self-selected online survey was used to collect data in 2021–2022. A total of 3573 respondents completed the survey (N = 1142 in Armenia, N = 1069 in Georgia and N = 1362 in Ukraine). We identified 12 key explanatory factors linked to the frequency of people’s interactions with UGS using multiple ordinal logistic regressions. The core findings are: (i) most factors are country-specific; (ii) age of respondents had a large effect on the frequency of UGS use in Armenia and Georgia, where older people were mostly infrequent users of UGS; (iii) those who lived further from UGS or could not access it on foot were less likely to use it often; and (iv) the only common key factor across three countries was that people who ‘do not want’ to use UGS are infrequent users. The study shows that only 10–18% of respondents were satisfied with the UGS availability and quality. Among many constraints related to UGS use, litter in UGS and lack of time were the most mentioned. Large parks were the most preferred types of UGS. Our findings confirm the need for urban planners in Eastern Europe to consider and integrate diverse factors influencing people’s willingness to interact with urban nature. A priority is to understand how to bring infrequent users to UGS, particularly older people in various cultural settings in Eastern European countries.

Disjunction, or continuity: Re-identifying the “Kushan” and “post-Kushan” periods at Kausambi

The investigation of Early Historic sites has often found a culturally rich “Kushan” accumulation in contrast to the scanty finds of later centuries. This discrepancy has led to a hypothesis of urban decline and associated changes in socio-economic structure. However, more recent research has suggested that the missing archaeological record has primarily resulted from the poor investigation of the late occupation and related artefacts. This article is a case study to further discuss the issue by reexamining the excavated data from Kausambi, one of the largest Early Historic cities in the upper Gangetic plain. The coin-based chronological sequence derived from the residential area near the Ashokan pillar suggests that the habitation ended in the early fourth century CE. However, an observation of the ceramic evidence from the last period illustrates that the site was not abandoned after the “Kushan” age but occupied throughout the first millennium CE. The absence of the “post-Kushan” period is more likely a consequence of uncritical dating criteria. By pooling and integrating the available archaeological materials from other fieldwork around the site, this article will suggest a prolonged settlement of this great city and characterise its temporal patterns in a new and refined chronological framework.

Political cycles of the Balkan region

The article analyzes the economic and financial relations between countries of the Balkan region, on the one hand, and the ones of the European Union, as well as, the United States of America, China and Russia, on the other hand. In contemporary information society, entirely, or partially forgotten symbols can be forerunners of changes in socio-economic structures. As Karl Gustav Jung said, “color and symbol rule the world because they are faster than thought”. Different countries and regions have their own symbols. Griffin, a flying lion, for instance, was a symbol of Tartaria, then it appeared to be a national symbol of Bulgarian and Romanian national currency. The symbol determines the cyclical nature of social and political processes and symbolizes political behavior that can be «unreasonable» in the opinion of the Italian sociologist and economist V. Pareto. Investigating the sense of political cycles and their symbols is of huge interest for modern researchers.

The Changing Nature of Class Voting in Canada, 1965–2019

AbstractMuch attention has been paid to the changing class cleavage that structured political conflict in the twentieth century. In contrast to most advanced democracies, class voting has traditionally been weak in Canada. Using the entire series of the Canadian Election Study (1965–2019), we find the historic pattern of working-class voting for the New Democratic Party (NDP) held outside of Quebec in recent elections, before suddenly falling off in 2019. Starting in 2004, we find a clear and distinct trend where the working class has increased its support for the Conservatives. Although greater partisan sorting is occurring over the economy, cultural issues such as moral traditionalism and anti-immigration are now significant drivers of working-class Conservative support. The findings carry important implications for class-party relationships and reveal that Canada, despite its comparatively weak nativist cleavage, is not immune from the tensions social democratic parties have recently experienced in maintaining cross-class coalitions amid socio-economic structural changes.

Using Remote Sensing to Identify Urban Fringe Areas and Their Spatial Pattern of Educational Resources: A Case Study of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle

Rapid urbanization has already caused many impacts, such as environmental degradation and imbalanced resource allocation. As the frontiers of urbanization, urban fringe areas (UFAs) present both urban and rural characteristics and undergo complex socio-economic structural changes. Accurately identifying the spatial extent of UFAs is highly significant because it contributes to understanding the pattern of urban spatial expansion and guides future urban planning. However, existing methods are strongly affected by subjective factors. To solve this problem, this study presents a new approach to identifying UFAs, with the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle as the study area. The new method achieved an identification accuracy of 74.2%, effectively eliminated some noise points, and reduced the influence of subjective factors. From an applied perspective, this study employed the Geo-information Tupu and density-field-based hotspot detector to analyze the spatial pattern of educational resources. Overall, the results showed that hotspots of educational resources are concentrated in places with good transportation or near urban areas; and the generalized symmetric structure Tupu of hotspots is diverse. In addition, the results can reveal the hotspot formation mechanism and provide a reference for resource allocation.

Market-Driven Rural Construction—A Case Study of Fuhong Town, Chengdu

Although local government has played an important role in rural China’s development, some disadvantages of government-led rural construction have gradually emerged with changes in socioeconomic structure, which have negative impacts on rural development. To solve the problems of the traditional rural construction pattern, the introduction of market mechanisms into rural construction became the consensus in theory and in practice. Extant studies emphasize the importance of a market-driven rural construction pattern; however, they do not discuss how to practice this pattern in detail. Thus, this paper uses a case study and comparative analysis to illustrate the background, implementation process and outcomes of the market-driven pattern, aiming to identify the intrinsic dynamics among the local government, market capital and villagers in the market-driven pattern. We argue that although the transformation from a government-led to market-driven pattern is a gradual process, the market-driven pattern is an alternative to the traditional pattern and can better fulfill villagers’ interests and enhance sustainable rural development.

Is Conventional Laparoscopy Better Than the Single Incision Laparoscopy for Cholecystectomy: A Narrative Review

Gallstone disease is one of the most common problems affecting digestive tract. The prevalence of gallstones is related to factors like age, gender and ethnic background. The prevalence of gallstone varies widely from place to place. It is estimated that approximately 20-25 million people in the United States have gallstones and that approximately 1 million new cases of cholelithiasis develop each year. Cholelithiasis is 10-15% prevalent in India and approximately 1-2% of asymptomatic patients will develop symptoms and require cholecystectomy each year. Its occurrence has been found to be at least 7.4% in adult population of North India. There has also been a remarkable shift in the trend of gall stone disease from middle aged, fertile, fat, females to young asthenic females in their twenties. Changing incidence in India is mainly attributed to westernization of diet, change in socioeconomic structure and availability of ultrasound as investigation in both rural and urbanareas. The current review was done to determine the efficacy of conventional laparoscopic cholecystectomy in comparison to single incision laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Barriers and ways forward to climate risk management against indirect effects of natural disasters: A case study on flood risk in Austria

Natural disasters, such as floods, can have severe consequences, especially as economies are becoming ever more interlinked and complex so that the cascading effects of disasters can amplify direct impacts. These trends are expected to continue in the future due to climate change and changing socio-economic structures. It is therefore important to promote climate risk management strategies that also deal with indirect effects due to natural disaster events in a proactive manner. However, there is a lack of studies which investigate the agents involved in climate risk management geared towards the indirect effects of disasters and how these indirect effects are or can be dealt with. We address this gap via a detailed case study of the Austrian flood risk management apparatus. Based on a detailed stakeholder analysis, we compile a stakeholder map of those potentially involved in indirect flood risk management as well as the relationships among them (or the lack thereof). We further discuss current and future indirect risk management strategies and corresponding implementation barriers. Finally, based on the results obtained from the stakeholder process, we discuss and suggest possible ways forward to overcome these barriers to enable proactive management strategies for indirect climate risks. We find that although indirect risks are being considered in the Austrian flood risk management, they are managed to a marginal degree. To remedy this, we call for increased efforts in data collection, modelling and awareness raising and the revision of current financial as well as institutional structures. Greater focus should be put on interdependencies within systems as well as the adoption of long-term visions for establishing more integrated climate risk management against indirect effects.

Цифровая трансформация как инструмент развития компаний в цифровой экономике на примере Татарстана

Objective: to describe the behavior of economic entities implementing the first projects in the sphere of digital transformation by the example of several service enterprises of the Republic of Tatarstan (medium-size businesses).Methods: abstract-logical and dialectical, phenomenological methods.Results: the main motives of digital transformation are described; conclusions are drawn about the main external and internal challenges of such transformations for business entities (enterprises) in terms of changes in socio-economic factors and structural changes in economic systems at the meso-level. Three stages of implementation of the first projects in the sphere of digital transformation among the Russian private companies are identified by the example of the Republic of Tatarstan. Scientific novelty: it is shown that the implementation of projects in the field of digital transformation by enterprises leads to a lot of external effects; the reluctance to finance the benefits of other economic agents of the enterprise can reduce interest in digital transformation; the relevance of the research in the field of the digital transformation impact on the business development of modern enterprises is shown; the authors show the need to develop research of the impact of digital transformation on the business development of modern enterprises, depending on the industry and the business model used. Practical significance: the understanding of the economic entities’ behavior during implementation of the first projects in the field of digital transformation, revealed in the work, makes it urgent to develop a set of non-profit organizations in the field of digital economy to increase social capital in the society, and also creates a basis for further research in this area.

Upward mobility and Consumption Pattern: An Analysis from Central and Southern Punjab, Pakistan

During the past couple of decades the rapid changes in socio economic structure of Punjab, Pakistan have been observed. The present study is an attempt to analyze the impact of socio economic mobility on the changes in consumption pattern of households in Central and Southern Punjab, Pakistan using primary data. In the first part, the study identifies the socio economic factors which are responsible for upward mobility while, the second part deals with the impact of upward mobility on the changes in consumption pattern of households. The results of logistic model reveal that income and occupation progression have emerged important factors which cause changes in consumption pattern of households from basic goods to cultural goods. However, the impact of education on the changes in consumption pattern has come up low as compared to occupation progression and income. The study concludes that the role of government is highly important in shaping the consumption behavior of mobile households through providing appropriate incentives regarding higher education and occupation progression.

Sounding Out the Symptoms of Gentrification in Berlin

Scholars of gentrification often study the visual results of socioeconomic structural change in urban environments, including graffiti removal and historical reconstructions of façades, turning “ugly” factory ruins into charming residential loft spaces, etc. This article examines the gentrification of Berlin’s former working-class neighborhood Prenzlauer Berg in terms of sound. We present the Knaack Klub as a sonic case study symbolizing the erasure of the voices and culture of Berlin’s long-term residents and argue that contestations over sound, brought on by West German migrants in what can be considered a “hostile takeover” of parts of East Berlin, are a key driver of gentrification. Mining visual material including photographs, police reports, court verdicts, real estate advertisements, and street maps for acoustic clues, we are able to synthesize sight and sound, ultimately allowing us to move beyond the surface—in this case, building façades—to study the visual and sonic penetration of a gentrifying neighborhood’s intersecting public and private spaces. The study of the sonic heritage of neighborhoods or even single buildings helps us to move beyond Wilhelmine façades and the surface of courtyard living to reevaluate the relationship between urban space and community, between architectural history and policy.

Multiple burdens of malnutrition and relative remoteness in rural Ecuadorian communities.

Social and economic changes associated with new roads can bring about rapid nutritional transitions. To study this process, we: (1) describe trends in adult overweight and obesity (OW/OB) among rural Afro-Ecuadorians over time and across a gradient of community remoteness from the nearest commercial centre; (2) examine the relationship between male and female adult OW/OB and factors associated with market integration such as changing livelihoods and (3) examine the co-occurrence of adult OW/OB and under-five stunting and anaemia. Adult anthropometry was collected through serial case-control studies repeated over a decade across twenty-eight communities. At the same time, anthropometry and Hb were measured for all children under 5 years of age in every community. Northern coastal Ecuador. Adults (n 1665) and children under 5 years of age (n 2618). From 2003 and 2013, OW/OB increased from 25·1 % to 44·8 % among men and 59·9 % to 70·2 % among women. The inverse relationship between remoteness and OW/OB in men was attenuated when adjusting for urban employment, suggesting that livelihoods mediated the remoteness-OW/OB relationship. No such relationship was observed among women. Communities with a higher prevalence of male OW/OB also had a greater prevalence of stunting, but not anaemia, in children under 5 years of age. The association between male OW/OB and child stunting at the community level, but not the household level, suggests that changing food environments, rather than household- or individual-level factors, drove these trends. A closer examination of changing socio-economic structures and food environments in communities undergoing rapid development could help mitigate future public health burdens.

Resistance is Futile? Ceramic Technology and Social Change in Later Iron Age and Early Roman Britain: Silchester Ware as a Case Study

ABSTRACTWhile the basic sequence of innovations that characterise ceramic production in southern Britain during the first centuriesb.c. anda.d. is well-established, our understanding of resistance to these innovations remains in its infancy. Led by the theoretical principles of social constructionism, this paper presents a detailed technological characterisation of Silchester ware, a hand-built ceramic type common in late Iron Age and early Roman Berkshire and northern Hampshire, and a conspicuous example of technological and stylistic anachronism when compared to contemporary wheel-made pottery. Multi-period analyses using radiography, petrography and typology indicate that Silchester ware was not merely a technological ‘hangover’, but a traditional form of material culture with its own role in changing socio-economic structures. Contextualisation of the findings within the local archaeological background further suggests that Silchester ware may have been instrumental in the maintenance of local community and identity at a time when these aspects of social life were under threat. Supplementary material available online (https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068113X20000355) comprises a characterisation of thechaînes opératoiresof Silchester ware and its middle Iron Age antecedents, and a summarised version of the data, interpretations and the original radiographs.

근대 울릉도 사회경제 구조의 변천과 독도 인식

본 연구의 목적은 ｢울릉도개척령(1882)｣ 이후 일제강점기에 이르기까지 근대기 울릉도 사회경제 구조의 형성과 변화과정을 통해 울릉도의 부속섬 독도에 대한 인식 및 인지를 살펴보고자 한 것이다. 이글을 통해 검토된 것은 다음과 같다. 첫째, 일본제국주의의 이주어촌정책과 맞물려 다시 울릉도로 잠입한 일본인들은 초기에는 주로 벌목의 채벌을 주된 목적으로 하였으나, 1900년대로 접어들면서 점차로 전복채취, 강치어렵, 오징어잡이 등이 보급되면서 수산자원의 채취를 통해 소득원을 얻는 형태로 변화하였으며, 이는 울릉도 경제의 성장과 더불어 인구 증가의 요인으로 작용하였다. 둘째, 울릉도에 일본인 이주가 본격화되는 계기는 1889년 조일통어장정과 1895년 청일전쟁 이후부터이며, 이는 메이지 정부의 대륙진출을 위한 이주어촌 정책이 배후에 작용하고 있었다. 또한 울릉도의 일본인 인구가 비약적으로 늘어나는 것은 1903년 울릉도에 사도식(佐渡式) 오징어어업을 도입하면서부터였다. 오징어어업의 도입은 종래의 목재 소득을 대체하는 소득원이었고 이로 인해 울릉도의 일본인 이주어촌은 정착단계에 접어들었고 1910년을 전후하여 울릉도의 인구가 다시 급속히 늘어났다. 셋째, 어업활동이라는 경제행위를 매개로 관리와 행정, 교육, 경찰, 상업, 가공업 등 일제강점기 울릉도의 기득권층은 일본인에 의해 형성되었으며, 식민지 지배와 수탈이라는 전형적인 사례를 보여주는 것이 울릉도의 근대사이기도 하다. 하지만 현재의 울릉도의 산업구조를 있게 한 긍정적인 부분과 울릉도의 임산자원 황폐화 및 어족자원의 수탈이라는 부정적인 부분을 함께 지니고 있는 것이기도 하다. 넷째, 울릉도에 이주어촌이 정착하면서 주로 산음지방 출신자들이 일본인 거주자들의 7할 이상이나 차지하였고, 일본으로의 항로로 ‘울릉도-오키섬-사카이미나토’ 라는 직항로가 개설되었다. 그 도정에 있는 독도는 이들 항해의 표적 역할을 하였다. 이들의 독도 인지를 보면, 당시 새롭게 유입된 량코섬(リャンコ島)이라는 호칭을 공식명칭으로 하면서도 산음지방에서 예전부터 부르던 독도의 명칭 송도(松島)가 그대로 사용되고 었었다. 이는 산음 연해지방 어민들이 근대에 들어와서도 새로운 명칭 량코섬보다는 송도를 관습적으로 써왔다는 것을 말해준다. 그리고 독도(송도)는 전복이 많이 나는 곳이어서 본도인 울릉도에서 출어하는 사람이 많았으며, 이들은 주로 4~5일간 체류하다가 본섬(울릉도)으로 돌아오는 식의 출어를 하였다. 즉 본도인 울릉도를 거점으로 하여 독도로의 출어활동을 하고 있었음을 말해주는 것으로, 당시 독도로의 출어가 오키섬(157.5km)보다 훨씬 지근거리이고 안전한 울릉도를 기점으로 하여 어로활동이 이루어지고 있었음을 알 수 있다.

Analysing Socio-Economic Change Using a Time Comparable Geodemographic Classification: England and Wales, 1991–2011

Geodemographic classifications are used to understand social phenomena. Within the private sector, for business planning accounting for underlying spatial differences in economic, social and demographic composition of geographical areas. In the public sector geodemographics is used in health, local governance and social research. Bespoke geodemographic systems help public health authorities to target neighbourhoods most at need of health campaigns. Geodemographic classifications are invariably cross-sectional and static. Having comparable geodemographic classifications over a period of time will help demonstrate changes in socio-economic and demographic structures. A time-comparable geodemographic scheme can bring out changes in multivariable compositional characteristics which are otherwise hidden by cross-sectional measures. This paper reports on variable selection, the conversion of inputs to a consistent geography and the creation of directly comparable geodemographic classifications of small areas across England and Wales for 1991, 2001 and 2011. Changes and stability in area characteristics are then analysed. The results show that most neighbourhoods are allocated into the same area type over time. Where there is change, this can be themed as: Socio-economic polarisation, characterised by a decrease in neighbourhoods found in the middle of the socio-economic spectrum, with an increase in number of areas at either end; Growth in the number of neighbourhoods with non-White ethnic residents, mainly Black ethnic minorities and Asian based communities and; Reorganisation and increase in classifications relating to urban areas, signalling development or growth of metropolitan areas.

Socioeconomic characteristics, family structure and trajectories of children's psychosocial problems in a period of social transition.

Data from the Czech part of the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood offer a unique opportunity to examine a period of changing socioeconomic structure of the country. Our aim was to analyse the association between socioeconomic status, family structure and children's psychosocial problems at the age of 7, 11, 15 and 18 years in 3,261 subjects and compare our results with findings from western settings. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and its five subscales were used to assess individual problem areas (emotional symptoms, peer problems, hyperactivity, conduct problems) and prosocial behaviour. Socioeconomic status was represented by maternal education and three forms of family structure were identified: nuclear family, new partner family and single parent family. The SDQ subscale score over time was modelled as a quadratic growth curve using a linear mixed-effects model. Maternal university education was associated with a faster decline in problems over time for all five SDQ subscales. Problems in children from nuclear families were found to be significantly lower than in children from single parent families for all SDQ subscales with the exception of peer problems. Compared to nuclear families, children from new partner families scored significantly higher in hyperactivity and conduct problems subscales. The nuclear family structure and higher maternal education have been identified as protective factors for children's psychosocial problems, in agreement with findings from western settings. Adopting a longitudinal perspective was shown as essential for providing a more complex view of children's psychosocial problems over time.

Las razones detrás (de la ausencia) del bandolerismo. El caso de la intendencia de Arequipa a fines del virreinato (1780-1824)

El presente artículo analiza las posibles causas que aseguraron la ausencia de bandolerismo en Arequipa en las postrimerías de la presencia hispánica en el Perú, utilizando las fuentes administrativas y criminales existentes. Teniendo como base los cambios en la estructura socio-económica que experimentó la región sur del Perú luego de las reformas borbónicas, se interpreta las causas que explican este fenómeno desde una perspectiva comparada con otras áreas del virreinato. Asimismo, se abordan las perspectivas historiográficas peruanas propuestas respecto al fenómeno del bandidaje —las que abundan en consideraciones de tipo economicista— proponiendo una re-interpretación de estos hechos delictivos desde un enfoque que privilegia el elemento cultural.

Assess the Rural Youth Extent of Participation in Rural Developmental Activities Coimbatore District of Tamil Nadu - An Overview

The extent of participation in rural developmental activities of rural youth in the development process is essential in order to bring the changes in socio-economic structure and improving the quality of life. The place of rural youth class is more peculiar and important for the future of country. Rural youth are the precious human assets who can play an important role in the development of agriculture and other allied activities. Youths can make their productive contribution to national development and through which society can benefit from the idealism and the sense of dedication of youth at the same time, they also occasionally involved in extent of participation in rural developmental activities in a village side like village sanitation, construction of youth club building, afforestation activities and natural calamity relief work etc., Since such a kind of rural developmental activities are increases their self-esteem, self-confidence, motivation and aspiration to give them a sense of identity and of being needed by the society. India has rich rural youth potential. The population of rural youth in developmental activities contribute to national development. Hence, the above facts revealed that the participation of youth in rural development activities is very significant and essential phenomena. Therefore, this attempt was made in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu with the 200 sample size of rural youth respondents. Cent per cent of the respondents have taken up activities related with adult literacy programme, construction of school building, afforestation activities and other social cultural activities. With regard to the adult literacy programme most of the respondents (93.00 per cent) stated that they have regularly participated in the related activities. Almost a similar percentage of the respondents have also regularly participated in the activities related with social cultural programme (94.50 per cent), construction of school building (89.50 per cent), afforestation activities (87.50 per cent), whereas the other respondents have participated in the above activities either occasionally or rarely.

Early medieval Italian Alps: reconstructing diet and mobility in the valleys

In Early Middle Ages (sixth–eleventh centuries AD), South Tyrol (Italian Alps) played a key role for geographical and military reasons. Historical sources document that allochthonous groups (germani) entered the territory, and the material culture shows mutual cultural exchanges between autochthonous and germani. Besides the nature of the migration, the demographic and socio-cultural impacts on the local population are still unknown. Stable isotope analyses were performed to provide insights into dietary patterns, subsistence strategies, changes in socio-economic structures, and mobility, according to spatial (e.g. valleys, altitudes) and chronological (centuries) parameters. Bone collagen of 32 faunal and 91 human bone samples from nine sites, located at different altitudes, was extracted for stable carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur isotope analyses. In total, 94% (30/32) of the faunal remains were of good quality, while the humans displayed 93% (85/91) of good quality samples for δ13C and δ15N and 44% (40/91) for δ34S stable isotopes. The isotopic results of the animals reflected a terrestrial-based diet. Statistical differences were observed within and among the humans of the different valleys. The δ13C values of individuals sampled from higher altitudes indicated a mainly C3 plant-based diet compared to areas at lower altitudes, where more positive δ13C values showed an intake of C4 plants. The δ15N values suggested a terrestrial-based diet with a greater consumption of animal proteins at higher altitudes. The data revealed higher variability in δ34S values in the Adige valley, with individuals probably migrating and/or changing dietary habits.

METROPOLIES OF LODZY AND LVIV: FEATURES OF FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Over the last 25–30 years, major cities and surrounding areas have undergone significant changes in socio-economic and spatial structure. As a result of radical restructuring, traditional industries have disappeared and are being gradually replaced by new types of business activity, especially in the services sector, with increasing processes of suburbanization and development of functions belonging to the IV sector of the economy.The purpose of the article is to determine the actual scale of urban transformations of large cities and their environment in terms of performed «new» functions, their delineation for the purpose of further development of the territory in the context of new processes. The tasks are solved: clarification of the concepts of metropolis, metropolitan space, «metropolitan» functions; the selection of transformation analysis and evaluation criteria for setting the boundaries and scale of change; characteristics of the spatial structures of Lodz and Lviv as metropolitan formations; determining the role of metropolitan functions in ongoing processes; substantiation of the ways of using the experience of the Lodz metropolis to the formation and development of the metropolitan space of Lviv.An analysis of the current theoretical developments and practical activities at forcing the development of large cities in the EU countries confirms that the priority for the development of modern cities with metropolitan functions is based on effective use of human potential and ensuring the quality of inhabitants life. At the same time, competition for a highly intellectual person and intellectual resources capable of generating innovations and serving as an impetus for the development of cities and regions becomes crucial. A new trend in urban development is the humanization of cities - the ones must first and foremost be comfortable for life, work and personal development, comply with the requirements to create the relevant conditions for self-realization and unlocking creative potential and maintaining health.A comparative analysis of Lviv and the Polish city of Lodz is carried out regarding new features and approaches to the formation of metropolitan spaces. Search for opportunities to apply the Polish experience to the practice of Ukraine. Attention is focused, among other things, on the «capital» functions of the selected cities. Despite certain challenges and barriers, Lviv has a strong enough potential to become a leading, creative hub in the fields of culture, science and innovation economy, a key element of Ukraine's European future.