Journal
УКР   ENG
Socio-Economic Problems
of the Modern Period of Ukraine
   



Collection SEPSPU -- sep2025.04.018

Repository of Institute of Regional Research UDC 711.4+364.122.5; JEL R11, R12, O47
Lysyak, N. M., & Shchebel, A. I. (2025). Kontseptual'ni zasady formuvannya tsentriv ekonomichnoho zrostannya u fokusi rehional'noyi polityky Yevropeys'koho Soyuzu [The conceptual foundations for the development of economic growth poles in the focus of the European Union’s regional policy]. In Sotsial'no-ekonomichni problemy suchasnoho periodu Ukrayiny [Socio-Economic Problems of the Modern Period of Ukraine]: Vol. 174 (4) (pp. 18-27). DOI: https://doi.org/10.36818/2071-4653-2025-4-3 [in Ukrainian].
Sources: 29

Authors



Lysyak Natalya Mykhaylivna

Doctor of Economics, Associate Professor

Researcher of the Department of regional economic policy of the Dolishniy Institute of Regional Research of NAS of Ukraine; Professor of the Department of management of organizations of the Lviv Polytechnic National University

Contacts: natali.bila@gmail.com, nataliya.m.lysyak@lpnu.ua

Webpages:



Shchebel Andriy Ivanovych

Ph.D. of Economics

Associate Professor of the Department of management and social-humanitarian disciplines of the Lviv Branch of European University

Contacts: a.shchebel@gmail.com

Webpages:

Resume

The article provides a systematic overview of the conceptual foundations for developing economic growth poles within the framework of the European Union’s regional policy. It reveals the essence of the economic growth pole category, which is based on the theoretical origins of the concept (growth poles, agglomeration effects, new economic geography) and its contemporary institutional interpretations in EU practice (growth poles and growth corridors; functional urban areas; integrated territorial instruments). A system of criteria for identifying economic growth poles is proposed in the context of Cohesion Policy and the place-based approach, including economic, locational, infrastructural, functional, urban, institutional, spatial connectivity, and temporal criteria. Through a cross-cutting analytical and theoretical perspective, the article identifies and evaluates the key development patterns of economic growth poles with regard to the quality of economic development, capitalization of intangible factors, dynamism, and controllability. It demonstrates that growth policy should be assessed not only through quantitative indicators (investment, employment, income), but also through sustainability, inclusiveness, adaptability, quality of the spatial environment, and the capacity to capitalize on intangible and unique resources such as knowledge, creative industries, institutions, and cultural capital. The authors outline the key challenges related to dynamising development and argue that these challenges reinforce the need for effective governance: while efficient markets are critical for growth, their “failures” require smart regulatory support that establishes rules and conditions for balanced development without substituting market mechanisms. The article systematizes new approaches to EU regional policy and identifies its core principles, financial instruments, investment priorities, innovations of the 2021–2027 programming period, and differences compared to previous periods. The contemporary principles and innovations of EU Cohesion Policy set the framework for supporting economic growth poles. Focusing on cities as growth poles, particularly small and medium-sized cities, creates preconditions for enhancing economic resilience, competitiveness, and innovative capacity of regions, while simultaneously reducing territorial disparities. The effectiveness of this model directly depends on the ability of institutional policy to transform multiplicative and spillover growth effects from uncontrolled by-products of resource concentration into a purposefully regulated process of spatial diffusion of development.

Keywords:

economic growth poles; Cohesion Policy; multiplicative effect; polycentric development; agglomeration effects; spillover effects; functional urban areas (FUA); large, medium and small cities, cluster

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