Yavorskaya V. Regional geodemographic processes in Ukraine: theoretical and methodological aspects

In the thesis are presented and substantiated theoretical and methodological developments of geodemographic as a new direction, which is formed by the intersection of science of population, population geography and regional studies. Traditional demographic studies indicate regularities of population reproduction, depending on the composition and structure of societies, population geography focuses particularly territorial organization of the population, in particular its settlement. Geodemographic studies geospatial distribution of movement of population reproduction and pattern of demographic development of areas, in particular regions. Geodemographic - the science of regional demographic reproductive complexes. Methodological basis of geodemographic is concept of regional geodemographic processes. Features of the demographic development of the regions define the whole set of regional assumptions and factors - socio-historical, natural-geographic, socio-demographic, economic, ethno-cultural, political. Population movement in this context fully and constructively represents regional geodemographic process that characterizes the demographic development of the region as an objective, holistic and continuous process. The paper deals with the transition from the current taxonomy of population settlement on administrative-territorial basis to regional systems of territorial organization of the population. Officially recognized territorial settlement system rigidly attached to the modern regional division and have the appropriate characteristics and rates. The actual task was set - to go to a hypothetical regional systems of settlement, which may be made on the basis of the typology of modern territorial settlement systems of the regional level. Considered methodological transition from the modern settlement systems of regional level to regional resettlement taxons is possible only on the basis of the typology of regional geodemographic processes (GDP). Types of regional GDP bring us closer to the future of regional systems of settlement. Moreover, the typology of regional GDP is a foundation for future regionalization of the country, but regions are administrative and territorial units of the first level in the new administrative and territorial structure of the country.