Positioning of low-urbanized territories based on self-identification: The case of Ukraine

Abstract

In the context of competition for limited resources for the development of territorial communities in Ukraine, the use of marketing tools in managing local development is becoming increasingly important. One of these tools is positioning. In the case of territorial communities, it is a communicative expression of their identity. This study aims to determine the positioning characteristics of small territorial communities in Ukraine (low-urbanized territories – communities with a predominantly rural population) in formulating their positioning criteria. The subject of the analysis was the strategic visions formulated in the long-term planning documents of low-urbanized territories. Descriptive information was evaluated and grouped using expert methods. It was determined that low-urbanized territories in Ukraine use a multi-criteria approach in the positioning process: the number of applied criteria reached 26 (an average of 6 criteria). Each of them is focused on specific target audiences – residents, investors/local businesses, and tourists/visitors (48% for each of the target audiences). At the same time, less than half of the surveyed communities (44%) position themselves as “territories of developed agriculture”. Since little research has been done on the positioning of territorial communities in the Ukrainian context, this study has contributed new knowledge in this field.

Keywords

• comfort of living
• differentiation
• investor
• low-urbanized territory
• marketing
• tourism