Social component of living conditions in big cities of Ukraine

This article tells about one of the new areas of social geography, namely the study of “life categories”. Living conditions are considered as the subject field. Given the current relevance of the study of growth poles of the country, the big (over 100 thousand inhabitants) cities of Ukraine are the subject of this research. The social component was analysed as one of the key components of the living conditions of the population. Index of state of social conditions of sustenance of the population of big cities (based on questionnaire and statistical data) was calculated. Objective side of social component is represented by 27 statistical indicators: consumption of goods and services, housing, home improvement and housing status, state of health sector, infrastructure, basic education, the state of the labor market and health. Subjective aspect of the environmental component includes the development of the questionnaire and mass survey of senior students (375 questionnaires) of geographical faculties of higher education institutions from different regions of Ukraine. It was found that cities with the worst social indicators component are actually concentrated in four eastern old industrial regions of Ukraine (Luhansk, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia regions). The results of such rating studies should be valuable not only for scientists but also for officials, politicians, investors and businesspersons who seek to obtain independent evaluations. Key words: life categories, living conditions, large city, social component, population.