Problems in the Evolution of Urban Agglomerations

Large urban agglomerations, which have been viewed as undesirable by some authors, are described as legitimate and efficient forms of economic organization and settlement in a modern industrial society. A number of processes in the Soviet economy tend to foster the development of agglomerations; however, the trend toward agglomerations in the USSR is still at a very early stage compared, say, with the United States. If agglomerations are defined on the basis of a central city of 250,000 or more, the USSR had 75 agglomerations in 1970 compared with 240 standard metropolitan statistical areas in the United States. In contrast to the United States, where suburban development has outstripped central-city growth, three-fourths of the population of Soviet agglomerations is concentrated in central cities. In the author's view, control of the evolution of agglomerations should not be designed merely to curb big-city growth, but to foster the development of these urban clusters within the limitations of environmental constraints.     

SOVIET POPULATION CHANGE AND CITY GROWTH 1970-79: A PRELIMINARY REPORT

The total, urban and rural population of major civil divisions of the Soviet Union and the population of cities over 100,000 are analyzed and mapped on the basis of preliminary results of the 1979 census. Total population growth rates declined during the 1970–79 intercensal period compared with the 1959–70 period while urbanization continued apace, although unevenly on a regional basis. The Slavic and other western republics, which show the highest urbanization levels of 60 percent and more, were also characterized by the lowest overall growth rates of 6 to 8 percent. Rural population declined almost everywhere outside a southwestern belt of high growth extending from parts of the southern Ukraine through Transcaucasia to Central Asia. Among large cities, moderate growth continues among cities with a multifunctional economy; high rates are evident in cities with major current industrial projects (automotive, for example) and in oil production regions; low rates are typical of some coal-mining and steelmaking centers. (For another report on the 1979 census, see “News Notes,” Soviet Geography, September 1979.)     

PANEL ON THE SOVIET UNION IN THE YEAR 2000

A panel of geographers debates possible future developments in the Soviet Union in regional and environmental policy, water resource management, agriculture, industry, energy, population, urban growth and planning, transportation, and foreign trade. The present emphasis on modernization of existing plant capacity in cities of the western, more heavily settled regions of the USSR seems destined to continue, although it will be constrained by a growing shortage of industrial labor, declining terms of trade and resource oversupply in increasingly competitive export markets, and the continued resistance of Central Asian populations to urbanization and industrial employment.     

The Planning of the Distribution of Production in Population Centers and Some Problems in Population Geography

A government official outlines some of the Soviet problems of settlement to which answers are expected from population geographers. They include: restrictions on excessive growth of large cities; promotion of industrial plant location in small and medium-size cities suffering from underemployment; prediction of ultimate population of large cities; determination of the optimal size and type of rural population centers. Population geographers are called upon to study large cities with a view to determining where further concentration of industry should be prohibited, and to select small cities suitable for plant location.     

Some Aspects of the Formation of Urban Settlement Patterns (Illustrated by the Tatar ASSR,Bashkir ASSR,and Kuybyshev Oblast)

Using the example of the Soviet Union's principal oil-producing region between the Middle Volga and the Urals, the authors identify systems of urban settlement and classify urban places in terms of their situation within systems of settlement. The situation of a place within a system is used as a criterion for determining whether future industrial growth of that place should be stimulated or restricted. A related article by one of the authors, F. M. Listengurt, appeared in Soviet Geography, October 1965.     

陕北地区城市化驱动力研究

随着陕北地区能源资源的大规模开发与利用,陕北地区城市化战略取得了一定成绩,城市化水平大幅提高。本文基于对于城市化驱动力理论与实例的分析与总结,首先指出了陕北地区城市化发展中的问题,指出城镇化发展速度快,中心城镇辐射带动作用小,城镇密度小,城市基础设施滞后、生态环境退化等问题;其次提出了陕北地区城市化的驱动力主要分为动力机制与约束力机制两个方面。动力机制有经济发展、城乡人口迁移、产业结构调整、产业带动、大型项目建设、基础设施建设等;约束力主要表现在制度约束、生态环境约束及水资源约束等三方面。     

PERFECT REPRESENTATIONS OF SOVIET PLANNED SPACE

The article looks at mono‐industrial cities in the Baltic States during the Soviet era. In terms of economy, ethnicity and their urban appearance these heterotopic towns were outposts in the integration of the occupied European‐like territories into the Soviet Union. Thanks to the principles of planning and state‐favoured development that were applied across the Soviet Union, these towns, built for Russian speaking immigrants, stood out from the surrounding patterns of settlement that had developed naturally over time. The uranium producing town of Sillamäe in Estonia was built in secret and with lightning speed amidst the panic concerning the atom bomb immediately after the war, and provides us with a perfect model of Stalinist urban development. Stu?ka, built in the 1960s near a hydro‐electric power station in Latvia and Snie?kus, built in the 1970s next to a nuclear power station in Lithuania, were less separated from the surrounding landscape, but both provide a perfect example of Soviet modernism, which had been learned from mass‐housing in the West.     

TESTING URBANIZATION ECONOMIES IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES: URBAN DIVERSITY OR URBAN SIZE?

ABSTRACT Whether urbanization economies stem from urban diversity or urban scale is not clear in the literature. This paper uses the 2004 China manufacturing census data and tests simultaneously the effects of urban size and industrial diversity on firm productivity, controlling for localization economies and human capital externalities. We find that productivity increases with city size—but at a diminishing rate, and the city size effect becomes negative for cities with population over two million. Firms also benefit from industrial diversity, and the strength of such benefit increases with city size but decreases with firm size. The characteristics of agglomeration economies in a transition economy are also discussed.     

Social-Demographic Aspects of Urbanization in the USSR

A certain measure of agreement is found between rates of urbanization and industrialization, with the agreement far greater with total growth of urban population than with the concentration of urban population in big cities. This finding is thought to be significant support for those who contend that limitations on big-city growth are desirable and will not have an adverse effect on industrial development. Migration from the countryside continues to be the main source of urbanization, although its significance has greatly declined as natural increase of the urban population has risen. Migration in general is thought to be desirable because it helps redistribute the able-bodied population between the agricultural and industrial sectors of the economy and provides a channel for social mobility of rural youth. However, the magnitude and composition of rural-urban migration in some regions is having an adverse effect on the economy and requires more effective regulation.     

Regional Planning Problems in the Soviet Far East

A variety of approaches are being recommended in regional plans for future settlements patterns in the Soviet Far East. In Magadan Oblast, the present scattered pattern of small populated places is to be superseded by greater concentration of urban population in a set of subregional service centers. In Khabarovsk Kray, different approaches are being recommended for the future development of the Khabarovsk and Komsomol'sk areas. Because limitation of the future growth of Khabarovsk is desirable, new industrial establishments are to be located in the future in nearby small towns and urban settlements of the Khabarovsk industrial district. In the Komsomol'sk area, satellite towns are to be significantly developed, giving rise to a grouped form of urban settlement, including the tin-mining center of Solnechnyy and the paper and chemical center of Amursk. In Amur Oblast, consideration is being given to the development of an iron and steel plant in the Svobodnyy area, giving rise to a city of up to 200,000 population.     

URBAN GROWTH EXTERNALITIES AND NEIGHBORHOOD INCENTIVES: ANOTHER CAUSE OF URBAN SPRAWL?*

ABSTRACT This paper suggests a cause of low density urban development or urban sprawl that has not been given much attention in the literature. There have been a number of arguments put forward for market failures that may account for urban sprawl, including incomplete pricing of infrastructure, environmental externalities, and unpriced congestion. The problem analyzed here is that urban growth creates benefits for an entire urban area, but the costs of growth are borne by individual neighborhoods. An externality problem arises because existing residents perceive the costs associated with the new residents locating in their neighborhoods, but not the full benefits of new entrants which accrue to the city as a whole. The result is that existing residents have an incentive to block new residents to their neighborhoods, resulting in cities that are less dense than is optimal, or too spread out. The paper models several different types of urban growth, and examines the optimal and local choice outcomes under each type. In the first model, population growth is endogenous and the physical limits of the city are fixed. The second model examines the case in which population growth in the region is given, but the city boundary is allowed to vary. We show that in both cases the city will tend to be larger and less dense than is optimal. In each, we examine the sensitivity of the model to the number of neighborhoods and to the size of infrastructure and transportation costs. Finally, we examine optimal subsidies and see how they compare to current policies such as impact fees on new development.     

沿胶济铁路经济带城市化发展优势、问题及战略构想

山东省胶济铁路沿线产业带经济发达、产业高度密集。该经济带从1840年到目前经历了低水平均衡性空间结构的雏形期,多核心空间结构的发展期,带状点轴空间结构的成熟期。城市化水平也呈相应程度的发展,从城市化水平低、增速慢,城市化滞后于国民经济增长;城市规模结构不尽合理,中心城市的综合实力不强,规模偏小,城市主导功能和职能构成分类明显,对农村人口转移的吸引力不大;一直发展到区域性基础设施水平较高,城市群的开放性和边界的模糊性等特征。在此基础上,胶济铁路经济带城市化发展更要抓住机遇,通过尽快实现胶济铁路电气化的同时,实现腹地西扩,加大城市规模,搞好城市的产业升级和城市升级。     

The Study of the Climate of Cities as an Urgent Present-Day Problem and a Task for University Geographers

In view of increasing urbanization of the Soviet Union, the climate of cities has become an urgent research problem. The staffs of the geography and natural-science departments are thought to be best qualified to conduct an inter-disciplinary study program in this field. A study outline on urban climate is proposed.     

DEVELOPMENT OF THE SETTLEMENT SYSTEM IN THE LITHUANIAN SSR: RESULTS,PROBLEMS, AND PROSPECTS

The authors analyze the factors, results, problems, and prospects of the development of a system of settlement in the Lithuanian SSR, a laboratory of sorts for settlement policy in the Soviet Union. Particular attention is devoted to the formation of an inter-rayon settlement system integrating urban and rural settlements. Several methodological and conceptual approaches to the study of settlement systems are examined in this context. (Translated by Andrew R. Bond.)     

基于社会学视野的黄山市汤口镇旅游城市化特征和机制研究

改革开放以来,旅游城市化成为汤口镇城市化发展的主要路径之一。基于社会学视野考察黄山市汤口镇旅游城市化发展特征并探讨其机制。发现伴随旅游业发展,汤口镇产业结构由第一产业为主向以旅游业占主导的第三产业为主的产业结构转变,居民收入主要来自于旅游业,居民就业主要向旅游业及其相关产业集中;居民的居住条件、生活习惯和邻里关系呈现城市社区特点,居民的经营理念、教育观念和生活态度等思想观念发生很大转变,显现出城市居民的特点;居民的社会角色向现代企业家转变;汤口镇城镇性质和职能也由农业社区向旅游社区演变。而优越的区位条件、良好的资源禀赋、政府的推动以及居民的积极参与等是汤口镇旅游城市化发展的主要因素。     

The Formation of Leningrad's Satellite Places

The development of Leningrad's suburban zone began mainly in the Soviet period with the growth of “dormitory” satellites of the central city. Many of the city's satellites perform the same industrial and cultural functions as Leningrad itself. The distribution of commuter areas is analyzed on the basis of winter commutation tickets. In addition to satellites, Leningrad has “associate” cities and towns that supply the central city with electric power and fuels but lack the commuting ties that differentiate true satellites. Further planning of the Leningrad suburban zone should take care not to saturate the suburbs with industry. It is more desirable to locate new plants in small and medium-size cities outside the suburban zone.     

国内外城市功能疏解研究进展

由于城市聚集效益的存在,城市功能不断向中心城区集聚,过多的功能集聚带来了一系列城市问题,城市功能疏解的研究亟待开展。文章首先从人口疏解和产业疏解两大模块以及土地利用变化方面对功能疏解的测度方法进行述评,并简要分析了功能疏解的必要性和动力机制;其次对国内外功能疏解的经验进行梳理;再次对功能疏解的成效进行评价;最后对国内外功能疏解研究内容进行述评。总体而言,与国外研究相比,国内研究起步较晚,但内容上与国外研究基本相似;然而在方法上国内研究目前仍以数量分析为主,缺乏相关测度模型的构建。随着国内城市功能疏解实践的推进,以及在中国特殊的土地和户籍等政策影响下,功能疏解的方法和理论研究将不断完善。     

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.     

SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE LEVELS IN THE LARGEST CITIES OF THE USSR: A MEASURE OF THE QUALITY OF LIFE

An attempt is made to measure the quality of life in the largest cities of the USSR on the basis of the development of various types of social infrastructure. The study set of cities consists of the cities over one million population and any republic capitals below that population level (republic capitals in the Soviet Union are given priority in development regardless of population size). Point scores are assigned to a variety of infrastructure categories, including housing stock, public transportation, retailing, public health, education, culture, water supply, sewage, greenery and air pollution, and physical setting. Although Moscow and Leningrad top the list in overall scores, even these two cities require improvements in some infrastructure areas.     

CITIES AND DEVELOPMENT

ABSTRACT This paper starts with a “primer” on what we know about the conceptual and empirical links between development and urbanization. While historical experience of developed countries is reviewed, today's rapid urbanization in developing countries offers an intense set of challenges. Rapid urbanization requires massive population movements and enormous local and inter‐city infrastructure investments in a modern context of heavy government interventions in economies. This context raises under‐researched issues, discussed in the second part of the paper. First concerns the spatial form of development. How much development should be focused in mega‐cities, or huge urban clusters, as opposed to being more spatially dispersed, a critical question facing China and India today? How do we conceptualize and measure both the benefits and costs of increased urban concentration; and how are they linked to a country's evolving national industrial composition? Second, what is the evolution of spatial income inequality under massive rural‐urban migration? Is inequality heightened today relative to the past by national government policies which “favor” certain cities and regions and by local government policies in those cities that may try to deflect migrants by offering them poor living conditions?