An Analysis of Factors in the Location of Primary Processing

An analysis of locational factors in the distribution of primary processing industries of the USSR seeks to determine the relative significance of resource location and nonphysical factors such as labor supply, level of industrial development and availability of transportation. Although it is commonly assumed that primary processing industry tends to be oriented toward resource sites, as much as 43 percent of the output of Soviet primary processing originates outside areas of resource extraction. In examining the pull of resource sites, the analysis distinguishes types of spatial processing complexes that are subject to strong, moderate and slight resource orientation. Measures are then developed for the impact of nonphysical factors. Finally, the 129 major civil divisions of the Soviet Union are grouped in a spatial classification of primary processing industry that combines the varying effects of resource location and the nonphysical factors. It is concluded that favorable resource base and favorable nonphysical factors tend to reinforce each other in determining location, but that favorable nonphysical factors may give rise to large-scale primary processing even in absence of a significant resource base.     

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.     

On the Unity of Geography

A Leningrad University physical geographer criticizes attempts to affirm the unity of geography through the creation of new disciplines like “general geography,” which would focus on study of the man-nature relationship. He contends that such a general geography, which would seek to identify general geographic laws, is advocated primarily by economic geographers who would emphasize the role of man at the expense of physical geography. Isachenko takes issue with the view that what makes any research “geographical” is its relationship to man. He contends that the criterion of whether any investigation is “geographical” is its relationship to the geosystem, defined as any natural complex, ranging from the global to the local scale. In his opinion, the unity of geography should be furthered not through the establishment of new supradisciplines, such as general geography, but through closer ties, both in methodology and in organizational terms, between the two main groups of geographical disciplines—physical geography and economic geography.     

The Impact of Raw-Material Factor on the Territorial Production Structure of Primary Processing Industry

A case study of the lumbering and forest-products industry seeks to establish the effectiveness of the territorial structure of primary processing under the impact of the resource base and of various economic nonphysical factors. A set of variables, including the magnitude of timber reserves, volume of output and the regional conditions of production, is analyzed on an oblast-by-oblast basis to establish their impact on the structure of the industry. Economic effectiveness is measured in terms of the level of labor productivity resulting from various combinations of factors. In general, labor productivity tends to be high in timber-rich regions with large volumes of production. But high levels of performance can also be achieved with low volumes of production if the industrial structure reflects the magnitude of the local timber supply (timber-intensive industries in timber-rich regions and nonintensive industries in timber-poor regions) or if the structure is adapted to local market needs. Previous papers on the subject appeared in Soviet Geography, May 1972.     

A Geography of Consumption and a Geography of Services

Professor Kovalev, a specialist in rural settlement, proposes the development of two new branches of economic geography in the Soviet Union that would be concerned with the study of regional differences in consumption and services. The proposal reflects the increasing concern of the Soviet party and government for raising the living standards of the population. Kovalev discusses a number of methodological problems, such as the availability of data.     

The Concept of the Unity of Geography in the Solution of Basic Problems of Geography

The author, a supporter of the unity of geography, calls for integrated geographic research as the only method by which geography can make its contribution to the planning of economic development. Only such an integrated approach, he says, can raise geography from its present “second-rate” position among the sciences to the forefront of scientific contributions to the national program of building a Communist society.     

Space-Time, 'Science' and the Relationship between Physical Geography and Human Geography

This paper explores the possibility that there may be commonalities between physical geography and human geography in emerging ways of conceptualizing space, time and space-time. It argues that one of the things holding physical and human geography apart for so long has been their relationship to physics as an assumed model of 'science'. It is proposed here that not only is this an inadequate model of science but that it has led us astray in our inherited conceptualizations of both time and space. The urge to think 'historically' is now evident in both physical and human geography. The paper argues that this both forms the basis for a possible conversation and also obliges us to rethink our notions of space/space-time.     

Specific Peculiarities of the West Siberian Economic Complex

The development of the newly discovered oil and gas resources and expansion of timber production in Western Siberia are hampered by a harsh physical environment and climate, the absence of transport routes, the lack of local building materials, and the need for attracting manpower from the outside. Despite these handicaps, however, the concentration of vast oil and gas reserves near the fuel-deficit regions of the Urals and Western Siberia is expected to make the development of these resources as well as of West Siberian timber economical.