SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH IN THE STUDY OF THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT. ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE CITY OF UMAN

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to substantiate the theoretical and methodological features of the socio-cultural approach in the study of urban environments, to conduct a socio-cultural analysis of the city of Uman, and to deepen the value and semantic integration of its cultural environment. The research methodology is related to the development of sources for the analysis of sociocultural resources of the city, and also involves the use of a structural method for the development of strategies for urban modernization. The scientific novelty of the work is in the application of a socio-cultural approach to study the problems of modern polyethnic urban spaces and a biotic-cultural model of development of the Ukrainian city of Uman. Conclusions were made that a sociocultural analysis of the city of Uman is focused on the development of pilgrimage tourism of Bratslav Hasids. The analytical model includes three factors: 1) the concept of the multicore city of C. Garris and E. Ullman; 2) analysis of biotic and cultural resources of the urban environment according to R. Park; 3) the concept of F. Jamison, which highlights the trends of "cultural production" of the postmodern era of 20th-21st centuries. Their consideration allowed us to comprehensively assess the attractive tourist resources of the city. We analyzed the biotic and cultural characteristics of the city of Uman, which is characterized by a significant seasonal influx of Hasidic pilgrims and a decline in tourist demand during the rest of the year. To solve the problem of low level of service in the season of high supply, we propose to strengthen the biotic (infrastructure component), and to maintain year-round high tourist demand and return on infrastructure investment – to strengthen other cultural and semantic cores of the city, such as Sofiyivka Park or an excursion map of modern Uman architecture of the early 20th century.