Introduction

With the independence o f Ukraine (December 1991) and the economic crisis associated with the dissolution o f the Soviet Union and the collapse o f centrally planned economy, the position o f Zaporizhzhya changed fundamentally. From one of the major industrial centres in the former Soviet Union, producing electricity, steel, aluminium, cars, transformers and machinery, it transformed into a peripheral declining region in the wider European space, as a part o f a new state that found itself in the margin of European politics. Transition towards a new economic system and insertion into the world economy changed many o f the characteristics o f Zaporizhzhya that once were considered as assets into obstacles. For example, the Soviet economy has been characterised by emphasis upon heavy industry and a high share o f production for the military. For Zaporizhzhya these characteristics were even more pronounced. Nowadays, this legacy has become a barrier for change.