Ukrainians’ Paramount Task
On December 11 an international workshop, Sociopolis in Ukraine: The Technologies of Practical Building, started in Kyiv. Yevhen Marchuk was the first to hit upon the idea of the socioeconomic development of Ukrainian society at an outstripping pace in 1999. He later developed this idea in his analytical research, Ukraine: A New Paradigm of Progress, which was published in May. Over a short period of time the concepts formulated in the book found a broad response both among Ukrainian and foreign scholars, statesmen, regional leaders, entrepreneurs. In part, the book has been translated into Romanian and Armenian. An English translation is available at the web-site of the Swiss library. Addressing the conference, Mr. Marchuk defined sociopolis as “a region in which the transition from one type of society to another, a superior one, takes place.” In other words, it is a territory where state-of-the-art technologies are concurrently put to practice in all spheres of life of the society. Mr. Marchuk believes, “Ukrainian society has all the prerequisites to quickly set up and successfully operate the structures of a new- type of priority development,” only “the state should not stifle the social initiative to single-handedly set up such structures.”
It needs to be mentioned that sociopolises were and are set up on the basis of townships, regions, educational and medical establishments. In part, leaders from Illichivsk, Reni, Ovidiopol, who managed to put into practice the still nascent idea in Ukraine, addressed the conference. As they put it, by way of combining utilization of their resources with the sociopolis idea, they have managed to completely or partially tackle the problems of unemployment, low living standards in the said regions, and introduce scores of helpful innovations. However, opposition from officials to the development of sociopolises in our country is evidence that not all believe that ‘development at an outstripping pace’ is but yet another utopia. The Day approached conference participants for comment on this.
COMMENTARY
Yevhen UTKIN, director, Kvazar-Micro Corp.:
The idea of sociopolises is not new to the world. Silicon Valley in the US is the best example. Speaking about utopias, I think that if we fail to set a paramount aim, all our dreams will attain nothing. As I see it, a sociopolis in the first place means encouraging people, leaders who undertake such paramount tasks. Today successful sociopolis projects are being implemented in Ukraine which is evidence that such initiatives should be supported. The sociopolis is the model of an ideal state.
Serhy KOLEVYCH, Reni mayor:
With its borders, transport corridors, minerals and possibility to employ intellectuals, Reni has a unique groundwork for setting up a sociopolis. We have succeeded in attracting both foreign and domestic investment. Having combined the town’s potential and the sociopolis idea we managed to lower unemployment rates and increase residents’ pay. There is one major impediment in the way to creating sociopolises in Ukraine. Although the residents and local authorities are enthusiastic and the government is willing to help, this idea does not seem to sit well with oblast authorities. Maybe they think it is a utopia. Even though our town has proven the contrary. We did not hit upon the idea of a sociopolis immediately, and we did not realize at once that what we were creating could be termed using a single word. First we had information about state-of-the-art technologies, later the electronic money, electronic management. And then Yevhen Kyrylovych uttered the word ‘sociopolis’.
George KARAPETIAN, Vice President of Armenia’s Association of Political Scientists:
Sociopolis is far from a utopia. When I finally laid my hands on the book and articles by Yevhen Kyrylovych I immediately connected the idea with a technopolis, a technopark. We all were worked up about them especially toward the end of perestroika. This is not a utopia as the central idea in its groundwork is quite right. The people working with Mr. Marchuk went about the development of this theory with keen perception. This idea is right both from the perspective of time and space. Most failures connected with the implementation of breakthrough theories resulted from the inability to take into consideration the subjective human factor. And in the case of sociopolis this is of utmost importance. I would not venture to compare the term ‘sociopolis’ to More’s or Campanella’s utopias. But one should be careful not to resort to platitudes so common in our world. Sociopolis is not a socialist paradise. I see a sociopolis as a part of the town and country where the society is of a greater importance, where investment in people and community is a higher priority than investment in its broader sense.
