Problemi Ekonomiki (Mar 2021)
The Essence of the Competitiveness of Coastal Regions
Abstract
The article aims at defining the key theoretical concepts related to providing the competitiveness of coastal regions and studying the essence of the terms "coastal region", "competitiveness", "competitiveness of the coastal region". The features and characteristics of the coastal region are determined, the classification of the region's competitiveness is expanded, which has helped to suggest a new interpretation of the "coastal region" term. A coastal region is an administrative-territorial unit that due to its geographic position has access to the sea coast with its own waters, specializes in coastal economic and ecosystem activities, creates its own maritime complex of industries with the appropriate infrastructure, faces specific social problems and environmental requirements, has its own cultural and historical heritage, the latter reflecting the maritime theme. A binary understanding of the “coastal region” term is suggested: coastal regions are treated as oblasts and as territorial communities, the administrative boundaries of which extend to the coastline. It has been found out that the competitiveness of a coastal region is an indicator emphasizing the region's ability to respond to external challenges; ensuring the use of ecosystem approach to designing the best possible region's economic structure; overcoming seasonality in tourism and recreation; taking into account the specifics of social and environmental problems of the region; preserving the cultural and mental identity of the region to create favorable conditions for the inhabitants. To create a concept for ensuring the competitiveness of coastal regions it is necessary to make not only theoretical generalizations, but also a comprehensive diagnosis of the current state of competitiveness, which is impossible without discussing the components of competitiveness, as comprehensive assessment will be done with regard to them.
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