Khovtura A. Formation and Мodernization of Social Infrastructure of Principal Towns of Province of the Left Bank of Ukraine (End of XVIIIth – Beginning of the XXth Century)

The dissertation is devoted to the study of the specifics of the formation and transformation of the social infrastructure of principal towns of province of the Left Bank of Ukraine in the late XVIIIth – early XXth centuries. The relevance of the topic is explained by the need to study the relationships between all components of the social infrastructure of principal towns, which provides an opportunity to solve a number of problems in the history of cities and the peculiarities of urbanization. The aim of the study is to characterize the development of social infrastructure in the principal towns of province of the Left Bank of Ukraine in the late XVIIIth – early XXth centuries. The author first established and characterized the stages of formation of the social infrastructure of Kharkiv, Poltava and Chernihiv in the late XVIIIth – early XXth centuries. It was established that the social infrastructure of the provincial centers was a network that was formed through the constant interaction of actors. The formation of the principles of zoning of the social infrastructure of principal towns in the second half of the XIXth – early XXth centuries is traced. It is concluded that certain strategies in zoning have emerged, which have manifested themselves in expanding the territorial coverage of remote parts of cities with various elements of infrastructure in the second half of the ХІХth century. The statistical indicators of the development of the social infrastructure of the principal town of province of the Left Bank of Ukraine, other prominent cities of the Russian Empire and European countries are analyzed. Based on the studied materials, the author claims that Poltava and Chernihiv entered the era of modernity, retaining a significant attraction to the traditional forms of organization of its individual elements. It was found that in terms of utilities, public transport and communications networks, Kharkiv was in the first position among the major cities of the Russian Empire. The dissertation concluded that the social infrastructure played a huge role in the formation of the modern social space of the principal town of province of the Left Bank of Ukraine. This new space was characterized by the emergence of institutions of collective security, social responsibility, manifestations of society of mass consumption and mass culture.