The impact of urbanization on socio-economic development: the experience of Poland, Spain and Ukraine

Purpose. To analyze and evaluate the impact of urbanization on socio-economic indicators of development in three different countries and determine how changes in the demographic processes of the urban population affect the economic development and financial stability of the regions. Methodology. The research methodology is based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis and includes the study of demographic characteristics, labor status, education, living conditions and well-being. To carry out such an analysis, statistical methods were used, namely regression analysis, which is used to identify the relationship between urbanization and economic indicators. The use of variation coefficient made it possible to determine the differentiation degree of urbanization level, and the use of correlation coefficients allowed assessing the closeness of the relationship between urbanization and the volume of the produced gross regional product, as well as the country’s financial potential. In general, the regression model provided possibilities to present the dependence between significant factors and determine their influence on the socio-economic development of individual regions. Findings. The study revealed the multi-component impact of urbanization on the development of regions, namely on the financial potential (measured as GDP per capita) of Poland, Spain and Ukraine. The research analyzed the complexity of urbanization and its impact on various socio-economic factors, such as regional differences, infrastructure concentration and ecological consequences. It has been shown that the significant benefits of urbanization, such as stimulating innovation, creating new jobs and facilitating global trade, can be accompanied by significant investment in urban infrastructure and cause environmental problems or facilitate the spread of disease. The conclusions emphasize the need to implement a national program of “smart cities” part of a long-term development strategy for effective management of urbanization processes. And the importance of further research on urbanization under the conditions of global demographic changes caused by the war in Ukraine is also underlined. Originality. Based on the analysis of the processes of urbanization in Poland, Spain and Ukraine, the key factors shaping the advantages and disadvantages of urbanization for the socio-economic development of these countries are identified. By means of regression analysis, for each of the researched countries, the dependence between the indicators of population change in urban and rural areas and the volume of the produced gross regional product within each national economy was established, and the existence of a connection between the financial potential of the country and the number of its urban population was also revealed. The influence of urbanization on demographic changes, economic growth, infrastructure and environmental conditions of the studied countries is demonstrated. Practical value. The article substantiates the data and analyzes the impact of urbanization on various aspects of life in the cities of Poland, Spain, and Ukraine. The results of the study can serve as a basis for developing policies aimed at optimizing urbanization processes, planning the development of urban agglomerations, as well as solving problems related to urban growth and management, including infrastructure, housing, transport and ecology.