Oleksiy Gnatiuk
Articles
Perception of the (post-)socialist mass housing in Kyiv by the student youth
Geographia Polonica (2023) vol. 96, iss. 2, pp. 199-220 | 
Full text
doi: https://doi.org/10.7163/GPol.0253
Abstract
This paper describes and analyses the imageability and the perceptual portraits of the (post-)socialist large scale housing estates in Kyiv in the eyes of young people (university students). The research is based on the analysis of Lynch-type mental maps focusing on urban vernacular districts among the other their principal elements. The results show that mass housing areas still constitute an important part of the city’s image. However, apparently similar neighbourhoods differ significantly in terms of their imageability and likeability depending on their location in the city and the trajectory of the post-socialist development. Consequently, individual approaches to positive image change based on the complex evaluation of development factors are needed to response the challenges faced by the different types of the (post-)socialist mass housing.
Keywords: (post-)socialist large-scale housing estates, mental maps, vernacular district, perceptual portrait, imageability, Kyiv
[alexgnat22@ukr.net], Department of Economic and Social Geography, Faculty of Geography Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv 60 Volodymyrska Street, 01033 Kyiv: Ukraine
[oukononenko@knu.ua], Department of Economic and Social Geography, Faculty of Geography Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv 60 Volodymyrska Street, 01033 Kyiv: Ukraine
[gs6154827@gmail.com], Department of Economic and Social Geography, Faculty of Geography Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv 60 Volodymyrska Street, 01033 Kyiv: Ukraine
Geographia Polonica (2021) vol. 94, iss. 4, pp. 589-607 | Full text
doi: https://doi.org/10.7163/GPol.0222
Abstract
This paper demonstrates a way to examine the transformation of the territorial shape of the region. The official symbols (flags and emblems) of modern administrative units of Ukraine were analyzed for the usage of heraldic symbols of historical regions that lost their administrative status a century before. The results confirm more or less constant symbolic reproduction of historical regions, but their spatial shapes has changed under the influence of new administrative boundaries. Simultaneously, in certain cases historical heraldry loses its former meaning and is involved into the development and strengthening of identities with new administrative regions rather than historical ones.
Keywords: transformation of the identity of a region, territorial shape of the region, heraldic symbols, historical regions, administrative reform, Ukraine
[alexgnat22@ukr.net], Department of Economic and Social Geography, Faculty of Geography Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv 60 Volodymyrska Street, 01033 Kyiv: Ukraine
[melnychuk@knu.ua], Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv Volodymyrska Street 64/13, 01601, Kyiv: Ukraine
Geographia Polonica (2020) vol. 93, iss. 2, pp. 139-161 | Full text
doi: https://doi.org/10.7163/GPol.0167
Abstract
Naming and renaming of urban space often is sensitive in terms of the street location and status and implies categorization of streets according to the perceived importance of a street name. Thus, different locations in the city have different symbolic significance, and the urban toponymy could be read as a spatial projection of the societal axiological system. This article represents an attempt to study the importance of location (centrality vs. peripherality) and status (significance) of the urban public spaces in the 36 largest Ukrainian cities in terms of symbolical value and memory policy. The findings indicate that both investigated factors constitute an important tool of identity shaping and historical memory policy, but their influence and manifestation may vary considerably depending on specific historical, cultural and (geo)political conditions. Therefore, although the central parts of cities and the main urban arteries have tangibly larger symbolic significance, the toponymy of less presentable urban areas may be no less eloquent in the critical toponymy studies.
Keywords: urban toponymy, renaming of streets, identity, commemorative policy, street location, street status, Ukraine
[alexgnat22@ukr.net], Department of Economic and Social Geography, Faculty of Geography Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv 60 Volodymyrska Street, 01033 Kyiv: Ukraine
[victoriasatiya@gmail.com], Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv Prospekt Hlushkova 2a, 03022 Kyiv: Ukraine