THE IMPACT OF FOREIGN ENTREPRENEURSHIP ON URBANISATION PROCESSES IN THE UKRAINIAN NADAZOVIA (LAST QUARTER OF THE NINETEENTH - EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURIES)
Authors:   Mariupol State University, Novikova S. 
Published: November 2024

The research purpose. The article, based on the study of office records of local governments of the Ukrainian cities of Nadazovia (lands above the Azov Sea)- Mariupol and Berdiansk, statistical materials and materials of periodicals, highlights the impact of foreign entrepreneurship on urbanisation processes in the region in the last quarter of the nineteenth - early twentieth centuries. The main research findings. It has been found that the main city-forming factors in the study period, in addition to trade, there were such sectors as industry and transport. It is described thatunlike many Ukrainian cities, where urbanisation was largely caused by industrialisation, this process had its own specifics in Mariupol and Berdiansk, associated with the development of these cities as port cities and constant presence of foreign citizens (colonists, merchants, entrepreneurs) in the region. Among them were Greeks, Germans, Italians, Belgians, French, and British citizens. It was these foreign citizens who were the main driving force and initiators of many achievements of urban culture in their own countries into local urban life. The article proves that foreign entrepreneurs continued to play a significant role in urbanisation processes in the Ukrainian Nadazovia in the last third of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Thanks to their active involvement in the processes of industrialisation and modernisation, the port cities of the region turned into large commercial and industrial centres, where dozens of important urban functions were formed that determined their modern appearance: housing of various types; industry; communal and warehousing services; trade of various levels and different specialisations; healthcare facilities of various types. Conclusions. The cities of the Ukrainian Nadazovia region were among the leaders of urbanisation in Ukraine, as port cities involved in international trade had additional opportunities for accelerated development in the most important areas of modernisation: finance, transport, machine and shipbuilding, and infrastructure development. This determined the local specifics of urban development in comparison with other regions of the South and South-East of Ukraine. However, in addition to positive results, the influence of foreign entrepreneurs on urbanisation processes had negative consequences. This was facilitated by the tsarist government's policy of comprehensive protection of foreign firms. This policy greatly complicated the process of developing local small and medium-sized businesses, which in European countries traditionally accounted for the vast majority of jobs and local budget financing, and led to foreign businesses neglecting local interests. That is why, in the early twentieth century, social problems and social tensions in the region were growing rapidly. Keywords: Ukrainian Nadazovia, foreign entrepreneurship, industrialisation, urbanisation, urban environment.