Futurology in Soviet Geography

A review article of recent Soviet futurological articles in the geographical literature, suggesting the increased activity of Soviet geographers in the prognostication of the environmental effects of human activity. Several of the papers under review appeared in Soviet Geography: Review and Translation.     

The Geography of Agriculture of Iowa

The following article on lowa's agriculture is of interest because the Soviet Union considers the highly efficient corn-based livestock economy of the state as an example to follow. Khrushchev's campaign to build up a similar Soviet farm economy based on corn, legumes and other high-yielding feed crops is based in part on observations of Soviet agricultural delegations in lowa. The statistical material in the article is based largely on the U.S. Census of Agriculture, 1954, Vol. I, Part 9, Washington, D. C., 1935.     

The Geography of Population and the Geography of Services

In discussing a methodology for a geography of services, a new branch of Soviet geographic research, the authors propose geographically meaningful classifications of services, the use of value and labor-input indicators, the problem of a typology of service regions, and other aspects of research in this new discipline. The geography of services is found to be closely related to population geography because of the correlation between the distribution of services and the distribution of population.     

The Importance of Home-Area Studies for Soviet Geography

The article discusses the Soviet Union's nation-wide program of krayevedeniye, a Russian term that is difficult to translate but equivalent in meaning to the German Heimatkunde. The English “home-area studies,” though admittedly unsatisfactory, has been used to avoid foreign terms. The Soviet home-area study program includes amateur studies by local residents, school-sponsored studies to acquaint students with their school district, and government-directed study programs centered on regional museums.     

Point Scales in Geography

Point scales evaluating a set of factors for a particular purpose are finding increasing application in geographic research. The basic principles underlying the compilation of such point values are discussed, and recent Soviet publications are examined to determine the extent to which these principles have been properly used or misapplied. Simple and complex point systems are distinguished, and the construction of a point scale is discussed in detail.     

Geography in higher education in the USSR

Abstract

Soviet geography in higher education stems from a solid tradition long pre‐dating 1917, but in Soviet times the subject's practical relevance to environmental problems has been especially emphasised. University courses are very specialised, yet in certain respects they are also extraordinarily broad by British standards. Geography graduates usually enter either teaching or scientific/ research bodies, to which they are readily suited by their training. The practical emphasis of geographical education, however, occasionally produces certain strains in the discipline.     

The Development of International Contacts in the Field of Geography and Preparations for the 20th International Geographical Congress

The authors review international contacts of Soviet geographers in the last four years and describe a volume of Soviet contributions prepared for the London congress. Soviet Geography, its editor, and David Hooson of the University of British Columbia are criticized for their coverage of the Soviet ideological dispute over the “unified geography” concept. A Soviet proposal for greater timeliness and activity in the work of the IGU is offered.     

Political Geography and its Problems

Political geography has no separate standing in the Soviet Union as a research or teaching discipline. An advocate of political geography calls for acceptance of this subject as a full-fledged member of the geographical sciences by outlining some of the problems with which such a discipline might deal in the Soviet Union. It would be concerned with the historical evolution and current changes in the political map of the world and the factors that give rise to both quantitative changes (in territory and boundaries) and qualitative changes (in political systems). Wars, diplomatic actions, dynastic alliances and territorial purchases are listed as some of the factors that result in boundary changes of national states. Revolutions and national liberation movements account for changes in political systems. Heavy emphasis is given to the study of internal political developments that may ultimately result in changes on the political map of the world. Political events throughout the world are analyzed in the light of Marxist-Leninist ideology, and political and social processes in the capitalist and socialist (communist) parts of the world are sharply differentiated.     

Methodological Problems of Soviet Geography as Interpreted by Some Foreign Geographers

The author reviews writings by David Hooson, Ian Matley, and O. H. K. Spate and welcomes publicity given abroad to methodological discussion in Soviet geography. In Saushkin's view, the three Western authors concede there is no unity of geography in the West and no theoretical foundation on which such unity could be based. That is why, Saushkin feels, Western geographers are hopefully watching Soviet methodological discussions for a possible solution to their own problems.     

Methodological Problems in Economic Geography

The author uses the techniques of paleogeography and archeology to trace climatic fluctuations in inner Asia and the rise of nomadism in the 1st millennium B. C. replacing a settled mode of stock herding and agriculture. Previous papers in this series appeared in Soviet Geography, June 1964 and February 1966.     

Some Results of the Second National Interagency Conference on Population Geography

Population geography in the Soviet Union is found to be developing mainly in breadth without adequate theoretical gounding. Because of the growing interest in mathematical methods, which have yet to demonstrate their real research value, long-tested traditional methods (statistical, comparative, cartographic) are being neglected. The usefulness of large conferences as compared with small meetings on a specific topic is questioned. The present active interest in population geography is resulting in neglect of other branches of economic geography in the Soviet Union.     

The Economic Geography of the USSR by the Year 2000

A Soviet economic geographer uses a popular science monthly to predict some of the changes that may be expected in the Soviet Union over the next three decades. Urban population will tend to live in middle-size cities rather than gigantic urban complexes or excessively small settlements. Farm yields will be increased through more intensive use of the land. Conventional fuels and hydroelectricity will not be challenged by atomic power except in remote areas lacking other energy sources. Heavy industry will continue a gradual eastward shift beyond the Urals but will not be matched by an equal flow of population, which will remain concentrated in the European part of the country.     

The today and tomorrow of Geography

The author proposes a fundamental shift of the center of gravity of Soviet geography from Its present emphasis on physical geography toward greater stress on economic geography. He feels that most major geographic problems should be solved by inter-disciplinary teams of geographers from various specialized fields in which economic geographers would act as conductors of the geography orchestra.     

Geography in the Mongolian People's Republic

A review of the development of geographic research in Mongolia Until the late 1940's Soviet geographers played a key role in Mongolian research, then largely limited to work in physical geography. Since 1950 indigenous geographers have begun to play a dominant part, adding economic-geography research in recent years.     

On the Criticism of the Unity of Geography

Anuchin replies to his critics, notably O. A. Konstantinov, whose review appeared in translation in Soviet Geography, December 1961, pp. 12–18.     

The Development of Geography in the Soviet Republics of Transcaucasia

A review of geographic research in Transcaucasia during the 50 years of Soviet rule. A great diversity of natural conditions within a relatively limited area has made the region a miniature laboratory and testing ground for a variety of geographic concepts, especially in climatology and hydrology.     

Economic Geography in the USSR on the 50th Anniversary of Soviet Power

Economic geography has, since the inception of the Soviet state, played an important utilitarian role in the planning and development of the national economy. The basic research of economic geographers in the preplanning stage should, however, be distinguished from the actual selection of an industrial site or of a railroad alignment, which must be the province of government design and planning agencies. Two approaches can now be noted in Soviet economic geography. One, closely related to economics, deals with the economic factors of economic location; the other, closely related to physical geography, emphasizes the regional approach to the man-environment system.     

Geography and Ecology

Geography and ecology are viewed as coming closer to each other in their interests, suggesting the prospects of common research in the area of the man-nature relationship. Both disciplines allow for investigation at the planetary, regional and topologic (or local) levels. Landscape ecology is regarded as a useful approach to the study of geosystems and for investigation of natural regimes, which are conceptualized as the driving force in the physical-geographic process. Models of ecosystems represent useful supplements to structural-dynamic models of geosystems. Human ecology cannot be treated as the entire content of geography, as Barrows proposed, but does represent one of the key concepts in geography, particularly in reference to the man-nature relationship. Both geography and ecology can collaborate usefully in resolving some of the broad problems of our time, such as optimization of the natural environment and long-term prediction of resource management. A related paper appeared in Soviet Geography, October 1970.     

Applications of Mathematics to Some Problems in Economic Geography

The author, a staff member of the Institute of Scientific Information of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, discusses some aspects of the use of mathematics in research on settlement geography. He develops a number of methods originated abroad, such as the nearest-neighbor distance and the Zipf rule on city-size distribution, and applies them to the study of patterns of urban settlements and the size and spacing of cities in national and regional systems.     

A Soviet Interdepartmental Coordinating Conference on the Geography of the Capitalist Countries

Following is a brief account of the proceedings of the inter-agency conference on the geography of countries outside the Communist bloc held in Moscow in May 1961. The listing of papers provides a survey of current Soviet work in this field of regional geography.