T. G. Nefedova

Moscow agglomeration and “New Moscow”: The capital city-region case of Russia’s urbanization

The paper is focused on the development of the city of Moscow and its close and distant suburbs, as well as on the accompanying problems related to the specificity of Russia’s urbanization. A complex hierarchy of urban spatial structures formed around the nation’s capital was distinguished, mapped, and analyzed. Both the former and today’s urban policies are discussed in the paper in view of the latest dramatic extension of Moscow’s boundaries and its potential effects.

Migration mobility of population and otkhodnichestvo in modern Russia

Various population migration flows are analyzed including relocation for permanent residence and temporary labor migration of the Russian population and foreign workers. A high correlation is established between the intensity of labor migration of the Russian population and migration for permanent residence to the central parts of Russia and the country’s biggest cities. A gap between migration trajectories of the Russian population and foreign workers is exposed. Analysis of the population’s regional labor migration relies on various sources of statistical data and indirect research methods on the socioeconomic state and migration attractiveness of cities of different size in macroregions of Russia, performed between 1991 and 2011. In addition, the study uses results of sociological polls conducted in key rural areas. Temporary labor migration (otkhodnichestvo) of weekly, monthly, or longer-term cycles is considered one of the key ways to support the required living standard in areas beyond agglomerations in the modern institutional context. The phenomenon of otkhodnichestvo has a social impact on the population. It reinforces polarization of the Russian space and hampers the development of peripheral areas and small and medium-sized cities. The paper contains maps, graphs, and tables.

The specifics and spatial structure of circular migration in Russia

Abstract This article aims at distinguishing recurrent population movements within the territory of the Russian Federation between urban localities of different sizes and rural areas in connection to the processes of urbanization, suburbanization, and de-urbanization. Incomplete urbanization and the strong polarization of socio-economic space in Russia have resulted in two powerful contradictory population flows: centrifugal seasonal sub- and de-urbanization and centripetal labor migration from rural and small towns to large urban centers. The article discusses three forms of recurrent population mobility in Russia: (1) daily commuting of urban and rural inhabitants within metropolitan areas; (2) commuting to large cities and their suburbs for long-term employment intervals (weekly, monthly, etc.), (3) second-home commuting to countryside dachas. Unfinished urbanization in Russia not only attracts rural and small towns’ population to major cities but also keeps it within the latter. It slows down the real de-urbanization and induces specific dachas (second-home) suburbanization/de-urbanization, with these processes being closely interrelated. An opportunity to earn money in cities together with the impossibility of moving to major centers due to expensive housing encourages households to remain in small towns and rural areas. Meanwhile, inhabited rural localities (even ones distant from cities) attract seasonal population (dachniks).

Russian agricultural resources and the geography of their use in import-substitution conditions

The paper considers Russia’s main agricultural resources based on the well-known political economic labor–land–capital triad. The study concerns problems of employment in agriculture against a background of intensified spatial polarization of the countryside and analyzes the territorial redistribution of the population from the countryside to cities both in search of permanent residence and temporary work, as well as the consequences of previous crises and the transition from a labor-consuming to a labor-saving model of agricultural development. The author reveals features of agricultural land use, territorial differences in the areal sizes of abandoned lands, and the possibilities of its return in use. Structural reforms in agriculture related to multiform expansion, the appearance of farm enterprises, and the arrival of big business in agriculture are considered in detail. The investment priorities in the agroindustrial complex that have led to spatial shifts in agricultural production are revealed, and examples of agroholdings are presented. The paper concludes with the problem of food security in connection with sanctions and import substitution, with its division into security for the state and for the population, the latter in relation to worsening of the economic situation.

Migration attractiveness of cities in the post-Soviet space: A case study of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus

The evolution of an urban settlement system in the post-Soviet space is analyzed by the comparison of the progress of urbanization and changes in migration balances of cities of different size, status, and location in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. Despite the differences in size and density of cities, their hierarchical and spatial structure, and management decisions, many trends in the development of city systems were similar in these countries. The reasons for different migration attractiveness of cities of different sizes are discussed including their socioeconomic statuses and infrastructural arrangement. These countries are characterized by strong contrasts in urban settlement patterns where large and very large centers play a major role and there is a significant proportion of small towns. In all three countries, there are significant differences between the quality of life in large urban centers and small towns. The situation before the military events in Ukraine in 2014 is analyzed. Migration in the period of 1990–2013 mostly from rural areas and from small and medium-sized cities to major centers supports the hypothesis of renewed urbanization that had gone uncompleted in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus in the Soviet era. Two main migration directions can be noted in the post-Soviet period: from rural areas to capitals, their suburbs, and other large cities, and for Russia and Ukraine (until 2014), from the east to the central and southern regions.

Cities, rural areas and urbanization: Russia and the world

The paper starts a thematic unit based on the results of International Laboratory (Groupe de recherché international) project “Urban Areas and Networks”, which was launched in mid-2012, according to the agreement between the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR) and the French National Center for Scientific Research. Besides the Russian researchers from the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences and their French colleagues from a number of universities, specialists from the Institute for Regional Geography (Leipzig), the Institute of Geography of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kiev) and the University of Debrecen (Hungary) took part in the work of the laboratory. Approaches to defining the key terms and concepts and their content used in research on urban geography in Russia, France, and other European countries are revealed in the five papers published in this journal under the heading “Urban Geography” (in addition to this one, also see the following papers: “City and Countryside under World-Wide Urbanization”, “Integrated Forms of Urban Settlement Pattern in Russia, Europe, and Worldwide”, “Types of Cities in Russia and Across the Globe”, “Cities and Social Processes: Rethinking Notions and Concepts”). The first paper deals with the criteria for the level of urbanization in a number of countries and the applicability of various criteria for distinguishing cities from rural areas.

Russia between the two capitals: Specifics of territorial changes

The paper analyzes an important feature of Russia, i.e., hystorical presence of two capitals, as well as intercapital space. The ratio of the population and functions of capitals varied for more than two centuries. The special role of the intercapital area, which is significantly affected by both cities, is considered. Paradoxes of contraction of the Russian socioeconomic space are evident there, i.e., major centers have become closer to each other, while the area between centers becomes distanced from them. At the same time, suburbs of capitals and the inner periphery have different developmental paths that, by the end of the 20th century, led to depopulation, depression, and demo-economic desertification almost everywhere in Tver and Novgorod oblasts (excluding suburbs of Tver and Novgorod). Here, typical trends in the non-Chernozem area are reinforced by the specificity of natural landscapes and strong social polarization associated with the development of capitals, migration of the population to capitals, and its war losses. In the middle of the intercapital area, a network of small towns developed, rather than a large city, resulting in a rich recreational space, the socioeconomic life here is also supported by Moscow and St. Petersburg dachniks. The specifics of this area are considered. The main feature of the area is the focal economic modernization and the creation of a new anthropogenic landscape. Against the background of abandoned agricultural lands and ruins of old enterprises powerful local development centers emerge based on foreign capital and investment.

Second exurban residences of citizens in Russia and Ukraine: Evolution of dachas and trends of their post-soviet changes

The concept of a dacha, the specificity of the study of dachas in Soviet and post-Soviet times, and the variety of dacha types depending on the type of building and on the use of garden plots are discussed in this article. The evolution of dachas from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day is analyzed. The causes of the mass distribution of dachas in the USSR and in post-Soviet Russia and Ukraine are considered. The structure of owners and character of the use of second-homes by citizens depending on the distance from large cities and the frequency of visits are shown. The common and different features of the dachas of Moscow and Kyiv residents are identified.

Twenty-five years of Russia’s post-Soviet agriculture: Geographical trends and contradictions

Structural and regional changes in Russian agriculture over the past 25 years are analyzed, and the main antagonistic trends in its development are identified. Regional differences in decreasing planted areas are considered, which nevertheless did not hinder increased crop production or its exports. Annual changes in the balances of production and consumption; grain, meat, and milk exports and imports; and regional shifts in the production of key products are analyzed. Herd dynamics of various cattle and poultry species and changes in the ratio of meat-to-milk production at agricultural enterprises, farms, and homesteads are considered. Analysis of production concentration in agroholdings has shown that it facilitates urban food supply, but intensifies the spatial polarization of agriculture. Changes in the production pattern in the aftermath of the crisis and modernization of agriculture are considered in comparison to decreasing employment, the low prestige of agricultural labor, and its underpayment. These have resulted in increased rural unemployment and expanded temporal labor migration (otkhodnichestvo) from country to cities. Temporal labor migration in several regions surrounding the Moscow agglomeration has led to the blockage of agricultural development. Graphs and maps are widely used.