On the Formation of Population in Regions of the Far North of USSR (with particular reference to the Aldan mining district)

The distinctive aspects of settlement of the Far Northern regions of the Soviet Union are reviewed with particular reference to the Aldan district, a gold and mica mining area in southern Yakutia. The main source of population has been net in-migration, with two-thirds of the labor force consisting of persons who move to the area temporarily, usually for one to three years. The permanent segment of the population represents only about one-third of the total. Working ages predominate among the migrants, and there has been traditionally a predominance of males, especially in the early stages of area development. However the sex ratio tends to become balanced as an area matures and the economy becomes more diversified. Indigneous ethnic groups represent only 9 percent of the Aldan population, with Russians predominating among the migrants and representing 78 percent of the population.     

Landscape Methods Abroad (with reference to land resource studies of the United States and Australia)

Although landscape research has not been set apart formally as a distinctive branch of geography in the West, the methods used in certain research programs in the United States and in Australia come close to the integrated areal approach to the study of the physical environment characteristic of Soviet landscape science. In the United States, landscape-like methods are used by the Soil Survey staff of the Department of Agriculture in its soil surveys of counties. In Australia, the landscape approach is used by the Division of Land Research of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in its reports on Australia's land systems.     

Transportation and the Formation of Economic Regions

The author outlines a methodology for determining an optimal location pattern of production and transportation in the USSR that would entail minimum combined production and transport costs of each product. Verification of this scheme at the Institute suggests that it can be used in planning practice if existing sovnarkhozes [industrial-management councils] are regarded as territorial production complexes.     

Economic-Geographic Prediction Of The Process Of Economic Development Of An Area (with particular reference to Irkutsk Oblast)

The present stage of economic development of Irkutsk Oblast is evaluated with a view to predicting future trends. The present stage is evaluated in terms of the economic structure of three intra-oblast regions (using Kolosovskiy's technique of energy-and-production cycles) and in terms of historical development axes reflected in settlement field potentials (see the author's paper in Soviet Geography, September 1970). Future development of the oblast is expected to be based on fuel and energy, forest, and nonferrous metal resources. The development process is said to operate both “in depth” (intensification) and “in breadth” (opening up of new areas). Development in depth, involving additional settling of high-density areas, produces pollution problems and involves the need for allocating recreation zones. Future development “in breadth” is expected in the northwest, northeast and south of the oblast, particularly along the border of Krasnoyarsk Kray, where a revision of administrative-political boundaries seems to be required. A reorientation toward the east of the oblast's predominantly westward orientation is advocated.     

企业文化的功用与形成——对日本、美国若干企业的考察之—

最近,“企业文化”已经成为人们谈论的话题,研究者们甚至认为,在竞争激烈的环境中,与企业战略以及企业组织结构这些“硬件”相比,企业文化这个“软件”对企业的业绩和收益的影响显得更为重大。“企业文化”常常被称为“无形的资产”。那么,这个“无形的资产”是如何形成,又是怎样发挥其功能作用的呢?…………     

THE PROCESS OF SPATIAL CONCENTRATION OF POPULATION (with particular reference to the RSFSR)

A network of 484 economic microregions designed by the Central Urban Planning Institute is used as units of analysis to determine trends in the concentration of population in some parts of the Russian Republic. The analysis is carried out over time and on two levels: the area that contains 50 percent of the total population of the RSFSR, and the area that contains 75 percent of the population. In 1973, at the end of the study period, 50 percent of the population was accommodated in 4.3 percent of the area of the RSFSR, and 75 percent of the population was settled in 11 percent of the area. At the same time, one-fourth of the area of the RSFSR was found to be losing population.     

SOVIET POLICIES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MOUNTAIN REGIONS (with particular reference to the Caucasus)

Mountain regions represent a substantial part of Soviet territory, a total of 652 million hectares, which is 29.5 percent of the total area, or 21 percent of the usable agricultural area (including livestock range), but only 3.8 percent of the arable land. Soviet policy toward mountain development has varied over time. At first, mountain areas were considered a symbol of backwardness, and were not allocated a role in the Soviet modernization program. In recent decades, attitudes have been changing, but solutions have differed. The author, focusing on the eastern portion of the Greater Caucasus, shows on the basis of the literature and personal observations how the policy in Dagestan and in Azerbaijan, by allocating lowland activities to mountain populations, differs from Georgian policy, which since 1976 has actively sought to foster a revival of mountain economies.     

MAPPING OF RECREATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AROUND A LARGE CITY (with particular reference to Moscow)

An analysis of recreation uses in the Moscow region shows a generalized radial pattern focused on the city of Moscow as the center of demand and an outward diffusion with distance from the city combined with clustering along railroad lines. This overall pattern is deformed by landscape differences, with higher density of recreation use in well drained wooded areas and lower density in swampy areas. The locational patterns of recreational use are further broken down by groups of users. [For a previous paper on recreation in the Moscow region, see the paper by Vedenin et al. in Soviet Geography, May 1977.]     

Regional and Local Settlement Areas (with particular reference to the Leningrad regional and Pskov local settlement areas)

Past Soviet attempts to define settlement areas have focused either on urban or on rural population areas. An attempt is made here to define combined urban and rural settlement areas, with particular reference to the Northwest Region, centered on Leningrad. A regional settlement area (centered on Leningrad) and a number of local settlement areas, centered on major cities, are differentiated, with so-called zones of disseminated settlement situated outside the limits of the local areas. The local settlement area of Pskov is discussed in detail, with a breakdown into three concentric zones based on the intensity of linkages with the central city.     

The Tasks And Methods Of Geographical Studies For Forecasting Economic Development And Resource Use (with particular reference to the South of Krasnoyarsk Kray)

Geographical preplanning studies for the long-term planning of regional economic development are found to be inadequate to modern needs because they focus on resource use for industrial purposes and neglect the potential feedback effects of the environment on human activity. Several preplanning studies are examined and found deficient in this respect. The problem is illustrated with particular reference to the South of Krasnoyarsk Kray, where the new Sayan territorial production complex is under development. Preplanning studies are found to have neglected the potential impact of development on landscape ecology, agricultural geography, population geography and medical geography of the area. The need for quantified results suitable for planning purposes is stressed.     

On the Linkage Between the Demographic Processes and Economy of a Region: (with particular reference to Pskov Oblast)

A low rate of natural increase, deriving from a disrupted age-sex structure, and net out-migration combine to account for a steady depopulation of Pskov Oblast. The introduction of industries providing additional male employment is recommended in the two principal cities—Pskov and Velikiye Luki—to correct the present predominance of women in industrial towns. Several measures (modernization of the countryside, promotion of truck-produce farming around the major urban centers) are suggested to keep more young people in rural areas and thus correct the lop-sided age structure there. Economic decision-making is viewed as a key factor in improving the demographic situation of a region.     

Scientific Results of the Trip of the Delegation of Soviet Geographers to the United States

A report of the Soviet delegation on research by government agencies, universities, and other institutions on the use and development of natural resources and on practical application of such research. The Soviet Union is found to be ahead in some theoretical aspects, but the author calls for detailed study of some of the practical applications of resource research in the United States for possible use in similar Soviet work.     

Flexibility Meets Accountability: State Charter School Laws and Their Influence on the Formation of Charter Schools in the United States

Using an original and unique database of state charter school laws that we have developed, we analyze how state policymakers have incorporated two key values into state charter school laws: flexibility and accountability. We supplement this database with other state‐level measures to answer two specific questions: What factors influence the degree of flexibility and accountability in state charter school laws? How does the content of state charter school laws, and the different values those laws embrace, affect the formation of charter schools in the United States? Overall, we show that state political and contextual factors help account for the degree of flexibility, but not accountability, in state charter school laws. Further, we show that the degree of flexibility, accountability, and political and contextual factors influence the number of charter schools that form in the states.     

The Location of Services in the Urban Hierarchy and the Regions of the United States

We use regression and factor analyses to explain intermetropolitan variation in the proportion of jobs in disaggregated service sectors in American metropolitan areas. Central place theory postulates of centrally located establishments serving a surrounding complementary region partially explain the positive relationship between metropolitan size and the proportion of jobs in an area in services. Regional variation in demand following several decades of substantial shifts in population and economic output is an additional influence. Intermetropolitan clustering of service sectors is also occurring. A factor analysis of employment proportions in twenty-two disaggregate service sectors identified five intersectoral service clusters. The factor analysis accounted for substantially more variance than the regression equations. We interpret this result as evidence of the emergence of service-based spatial industrial complexes. We argue that agglomeration of information-intensive intermediate services is driven by an attraction to labor markets endowed with pools of skilled professionals who can flexibly apply their talents in a variety of sectors. Unusual demographic characteristics of some metropolitan areas probably explain clusters of final demand services.     

THE USE OF URBAN SPACE BY THE POPULATION OF A CITY (with particular reference to Moscow)

In the first attempt in the Soviet literature to investigate the activity spaces of urban residents, the author analyzes the movements of five groups of 10th-graders from schools in five parts of Moscow. The activity spaces display a general regularity of extending along radial subway lines from the outlying place of residence (and school) to the city center, demonstrating two basic characteristics: (1) the sectoral orientation of activity spaces; (2) the inclusion of the city center. In some cases where industrial districts intervene between place of residence and city center, the activity space becomes discontinuous. It is suggested that urban planners can effect any improvements in urban living conditions most efficiently through the medium of the activity spaces of urban residents.