THE EFFECT OF GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION AND EMPLOYMENT FLUCTUATIONS ON RURAL SETTLEMENT TRENDS

Structural changes in the economy and spatial and inter-settlement differences in living standards and quality of life lead to fundamental alterations in the national settlement system. Settlement polarisation is gathering momentum, along with the movement of rural population from Russia’s east and north to its southern and metropolitan regions. These processes benefit urban agglomerations. Typological differences between regional settlement systems, still poorly understood but essential for strategic and spatial planning, are growing. This article draws on the concept of the geographical demographic situation; it uses official statistics on Russian regions and Kaliningrad municipalities and settlements to explore the connection between rural settlement trends and employment fluctuations caused by structural shifts in Russian regional economies. It is shown how settlement polarisation affects differences in settlement trends of meso- and microdistrict levels. Regions are identified that have a capacity for rural-urban migration and corresponding rural employment structure and trends.

SPATIAL ASPECTS OF THE REGION’S SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

One of the most relevant issues causing concern of the world community is the ensurance of sustainable development. The problem was raised in the second half of the 20th century and has not been solved up to the present yet. The main idea of the article is to consider the spatial factor of sustainable development. The author shows that there is a high level of territories’ socio-economic differentiation in the Russian Federation. The problem of increasing polarization both between the center and periphery, and between the town and countryside has become particularly urgent. Rural areas are significantly lagging behind in terms of the population’s level and quality of life, and the rates of socio-economic development. The trends of rural extinction are intensifying and, as a result, there emerge the sparsity of economic space, and the decrease in stability of the national settlement system and development of countries as a whole. The increase of socio-economic problems in rural areas requires strengthening of the state regulation concerning the territories’ spatial development

Between Urban and Rural: Sustainability of Small Towns in the Czech Republic

The paper analyses the position of small towns in the Czech settlement system. It deals with the definition of small towns, their geographical positions, demographic characteristics and functions in the national settlement system. A typology of small towns aimed at individual pillars of their sustainability is one of the results of the paper. The article discusses the position of small towns as part of the urban world and their position as a part of the countryside. It concludes that small towns are functionally important as rural centres. However, differences between urban and rural seem to be less important than differences among individual types of the Czech countryside (suburban, intermediate, inner periphery, borderland).

Demographic and functional potential of the Novosibirsk urban region in Russian Federation. A case study of transformations using the directional profile method

The research presented in this article focuses on the urban region of Novosibirsk, which is one of the most industrialized part of Siberia and the Asian part of Russian Federation. To show relationships between the city as the core of the region and its peripheral area a case study analysing territorial units within the southern settlement belt along the Novosibirsk–Cherepanovo regional railway line over a distance of approx. 100 km. This belt was chosen because of the continuity of the settlement and due to the presence of different functional types of edge towns. The adopted system, from the core to the area of weakening direct links to Novosibirsk, helped to define the directional profile of the urban region as relating to the demographic and economic characteristics. The research was based on two methods of determining the functions of cities in the national settlement system: a research programme concerning the genesis of functional development and a research programme of specialised functions, the purpose of which is to determine the economic base (exogenous functions) of territorial units. The presented results have shown general tendencies in the transformations of the Novosibirsk urban region’s spatial structure, both in long-term perspective (the generic view of function development) and under contemporary circumstances related to the economic transformation of Russia.

Current development of geographical organisation and changes in commuting to work and schools in Czechia

The paper provides an empirical analysis of short-term regional development processes in the Czech Republic. A particular emphasis is given to the assessment of changes in regional organisation of commuting in 1991-2001. A strengthening of the impact of main regional centres is stressed, especially the macro-regional influence of Prague. The results of the empirical analysis support general claims pointing to the importance of qualitatively new forms of geographical development in the post-industrial era: a strengthening of controlling functions of the largest urban centres and a general increase in contacts in the national settlement system, on the one hand, and a decrease or termination of population growth of large cities, on the other hand.

Nonlinear Programming Approaches to National Settlement System Planning

Three rather aggregate approaches to modelling interregional migration processes within a context of national urban settlement systems are described. General, modified penalty-function methods of nonlinear programming are developed and then adapted for application to the simplest of the three migration models. The properties of numerical convergence of the procedure are discussed. Some of the numerical results of a case study for a Canadian urban system are interpreted. Finally, some extensions to the procedures used in this study, as well as alternative approaches to the same problem, or similar problems, are suggested.