THE BAYKAL-AMUR MAINLINE AND THE INTEGRATED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE EASTERN REGIONS OF THE USSR

The construction of the BAM is viewed as serving two purposes: one, the development of new resource sites for export through Soviet Pacific ports, particularly to Japan; second, the accelerated development of new parts of East Siberia and the Far East, serving ultimately as a bridgehead for further advance toward the Northeast. Key resource areas to be given priority in development are the Neryungri coking-coal basin of South Yakutia, for export to Japan; the Udokan copper deposit, and the Molodezhnoye asbestos deposit. Because of the harsh environment, it is unlikely that any processing activities beyond mineral concentration and forest products industries will be located in the BAM zone, at least in the early stages of development. Food supply for the growing population will be largely dependent on hauls of bread and feed grains from southern portions of West Siberia and vegetables from as far away as Central Asia. Future territorial production complexes along the BAM are tentatively outlined.     

THE RELEVANCE OF THE WORLD‐SYSTEM APPROACH IN THE ERA OF GLOBALIZATION OF ECONOMIC FLOWS AND NETWORKS

Is world‐systems analysis of any relevance to present‐day economic flows? By using methods in line with the world‐system and dependence theories, we show that economic flows – trade and foreign direct investment – still deeply separate core and peripheries. On the one hand, through the analysis of the trade by products, we show that core countries hold on to a higher position in the international division of labour. On the other hand, by using network method, we highlight that core countries are still characterized by the intensity of their reciprocal relations while peripheral countries have few economic relations with a limited number of core countries. Moreover, the article demonstrates that this core–periphery division of the world has not lost its pertinence; it is as relevant as at the end of the sixties. In the current era of globalization, economic flows are still deeply structured by basic power relations between core and peripheries. However, the article also develops a theoretical framework to understand dynamics of the world‐system and insists on the emergence of Eastern Asia as a new core area, notably by showing the rising position of some East Asian countries in the international division of labour. We conclude by underlying the necessity to integrate world‐system and global network theoretical frameworks.     

GOVERNMENT QUALITY AND THE ECONOMIC RETURNS OF TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT IN EUROPEAN REGIONS

Transport infrastructure investment is a cornerstone of growth‐promoting strategies. However, the link between infrastructure investment and economic performance remains unclear. This may be a consequence of overlooking the role of government institutions. This paper assesses the connection between regional quality of government and the returns of different types of road infrastructure in the regions of the European Union. The results unveil the influence of regional quality of government on the economic returns of transport infrastructure. In weak institutional contexts, investment in motorways—the preferred option by governments—yields significantly lower returns than the more humble secondary road. Government institutions also affect the returns of transport maintenance investment.     

UTILIZING THE SOLAR ENERGY RESOURCES OF THE EASTERN AND HIGH-LATITUDE REGIONS OF THE USSR

A general exploratory article surveys the solar energy potential of the eastern and northern USSR, an area which the author contends is largely ignored in current Soviet solar energy research. He argues that solar power is a reliable substitute for conventional energy generation in locations remote from major energy grids and where demand is too small to warrant large-capacity conventional units. This argument is based largely upon comparison of insolation characteristics between (a) eastern and high-latitude sites in the USSR with (b) a middle-latitude site (presumably Alushta in the Crimea), and upon examination of the experience in other high-latitude areas (translated by Jay K. Mitchell, PlanEcon, Inc., Washington, DC 20005).     

REGIONAL INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURES AND ECONOMIC PROSPECTS IN THE FORMER USSR

The value of output, employment, and capital stock for each industrial sector for each oblast-level spatial unit in the former USSR, as well as differences in regional industrial structures are presented on the basis of a unique set of unpublished Goskomstat data. Particular emphasis is placed on asessing the regions' relative raw materials endowments, especially with respect to energy resources, and on the degree of diversification, or lack of same, within their industrial structures. The extremely uneven distribution of industrial capacity is examined in light of its role in determining the near- and longer-term economic prospects for the various republics and regions.     

TYPES OF URBANIZATION IN THE USSR

A typology of urbanization is developed for the 163 major civil divisions of the USSR on the basis of three factors: (a) an index of the level of urbanization (incorporating the percentage of urban population, the share of cities of 100,000 or more in urban population, an index of urban agglomerations, and a coefficient adjusting for the density of urban population); (b) the structural complexity of urbanization (which is treated as deriving either solely from the urban population percentage in the simplest case; or from the urban population percentage and the share of large cities in a two-element case, or additionally from the presence of urban agglomerations in the three-element case); (c) the dominance of any of the three structural elements. The typology yields 24 combinations of the three factors out of a theoretically possible total of 54 combinations, some combinations being represented only by one or two examples. The typology is conceptualized as a mobile system in which particular major civil divisions may advance to higher levels as urbanization processes continue.     

ECONOMIC REGION NET MIGRATION PATTERNS IN THE USSR: 1979-89

This article investigates economic region net migration patterns in the USSR during the 1979-89 intercensal period. Net in-migration and net migration rate increases (compared to 1970-79) occurred in both the western and eastern portions of the Northern USSR region, while net out-migration and rate declines occurred throughout the Southern USSR. Net in-migration again occurred to Siberia, especially Tyumen' Oblast, and there was a reduced rate of net out-migration from the Nonchernozem Zone and Central Chernozem Region of European RSFSR.     

THE WATER ASPECT OF THE GEOGRAPHY OF AGRICULTURE IN THE USSR

The long-term grain requirements of the growing Soviet population are calculated. On the basis of the relationship between water use and grain yields by natural soil zones of the USSR, the authors show that the amount of water needed per unit of output declines with a growth of productivity, especially in the non-chernozem zone of the Soviet Union. It is therefore concluded that greater water savings might be assured by expanding grain production in zones with an adequate supply of natural moisture rather than by the use of artificial irrigation of arid lands.     

THE PERIODICITY OF DROUGHTS IN THE GRAIN-GROWING AREAS OF THE USSR

On the basis of a chronology of droughts in the grain-growing regions of the USSR, compiled from historical sources and the more recent period of instrumental observations, the author shows that the occurrence of drought may be regarded as a random process characterized as a quasi-stationary Poisson series of events. Most of the grain regions in the USSR follow this regularity. In the case of simultaneous drought throughout the principal grain zone of the USSR, comprising the European part and the Midland region (West Siberia and Kazakhstan), the sequence of events assumes a nonstationary character. Statistical parameters are developed for the time series of drought years and nondrought years, and are compared with extreme values in grain-yield fluctuations. Over the last 140 years, drought occurred in 76 years in at least one of the three major grain regions of the USSR (European part, West Siberia, Kazakhstan) while 64 years had no drought and corresponding normal or higher yields. A catastrophic drought affecting all three grain regions simultaneously is virtually (95%) certain to occur at least once in 20 years.     

论全球化时代的人地关系与政策调整

本文的主题是讨论经济全球化对人地关系的影响。首先,认为全球化强化了人地关系的重要性。在全球化推动现代性区域的空间范围不断扩大的同时,外化的空间及可能性在递减。全球性经济活动受到了地理环境的更大程度的制约。同时,经济全球化不会改变人类活动的基本空间型式和相互联系,也不意味着人类会自觉减轻对地理环境的巨大压力。其次,分析了全球化给人地关系带来的新变化。全球化条件下的人地关系呈现出从区域扩展为全球、从静态走向动态、从孤立化走向网络化三个新特点。最后,提出了全球化条件下优化人地关系的政策调整的新思路。一是倡导全球化条件下的先行性的人地关系伦理,二是要建立优化人地关系的全球性评估网络和政策网络。     

PREDICTION OF TRANSPORT-ECONOMIC LINKAGES IN THE USSR

Possible changes in production patterns of basic Soviet industries and the resulting interregional linkages and freight flows are projected over the next 25 to 30 years. Interregional energy flows are expected to be limited largely to oil and gas as well as power transmission at extra high voltages. Steam-coal movements will be restricted to the limits of particular economic regions, and coking-coal movements will be reduced as a result of technological changes in the iron and steel industry (electric steels, direct conversion, peat-based metallurgy). In general, the share of semifinished and finished goods is expected to increase and that of raw materials and fuels to decline in interregional hauls. The likely new flow patterns are examined for the Soviet Union's principal transport corridors.     

知识经济时代与城市地理研究的新视角

21世纪将是知识经济的时代,以知识为基础的经济正广泛而深刻地影响着人类社会和城市发展的方方面面。这既为城市地理学的发展提供了机遇,同时也提出了严峻的挑战。本文阐述了知识经济的基本内涵,分析和预测了知识经济时代城市发展的若干趋势,并指出在新形势下,城市地理学只有开拓进取,积极创新,以全新的视角审视学科的研究理论、内容与方法,才能在知识经济浪潮中立于不败之地。     

PECULIARITIES IN THE FORMATION OF POPULATED PLACES ON THE SEABOARD OF THE USSR

A number of investigators have noted a movement of Soviet population toward the seacoasts, contrasting with the nation's traditional inland development. The pull of the coast has been linked to the increasing foreign trade of the USSR and to greater involvement in ocean affairs in general. The author analyzes the recent growth of maritime urban places in terms of the nation's major maritime regions: Azov-Black Sea, Baltic, Caspian, Pacific and Arctic, compares the rates of urban population growth and discusses some of the factors that account for differences in regional development.     

ON THE INEQUALITY OF RURAL SERVICES PROVISION IN THE USSR

Results of studies of inter- and intra-regional variation of rural services provision (including retail trade, cultural-educational services, and health care) are compared. Highest levels of per capita services provision were found in the Baltic republics and RSFSR, with lower levels in the southern European USSR, Transcaucasia, and Central Asia. The differences are attributed to rural depopulation (northwestern USSR), rural development priorities in areas of severe natural conditions (Siberia), and high rates of natural population increase (Central Asia). A differential approach in services planning is recommended between areas located near oblast urban centers and those which are more remote (translated by Jay K. Mitchell; PlanEcon, Inc.; Washington, DC 20005).     

新常态下中国人文地理学空间探究的时代宿命

本文从社会发展与区域科学承担的使命关系出发,论述人文地理学创新侧当代供给的使命,称为新人文地理学。在论述发达国家后现代人文地理学使命的基础上,依据"民本"性的新人本主义公正思想,首次系统论述主流新人文地理学研究空间公正结构的价值思想、理念与理论指向及其内容;其次,借鉴发达国家建构新人文地理学与社会及其区域学科的融合机理,具体地论证该学科具有对空间建构的最终人本判识学理性及其指向;中国已进入社会公平与空间公正建构的时代,本文争鸣性倡导国内人文地理学的研究必须从物质空间结构的景观功能研究转入到以提高人本价值生活质量的社会空间结构、行为空间结构与文化空间尊严结构的建构探讨方面。该方向不但是中国时代要求的使然,也是该学科对当代社会知识供给的宿命,同样也是与区域科学共同构建区域统筹发展与空间全面公正构建的学科融合宿命。在此基础上本文还首次提出社会与空间价值统一的"新区域经营理念"、"区域同步发展观"及其对应"空间体系价值统一规划"研究的新朝向。     

沈阳经济区经济重心的演变及其轨迹分析

沈阳经济区作为国家新型工业化综合配套改革试验区,对其区域差异的研究具有重要的意义。通过研究区域自1992年以来经济重心的动态演化过程,得出该地区经济发展县际差异的动态变化规律,并且就其演化的机制因子进行了分析。研究表明:沈阳经济区经济重心主要介于沈阳市苏家屯区和辽阳市灯塔县之间,基本接近几何中心,并与几何中心的距离呈现不断缩小的趋势,表明区域经济发展的不平衡性在减弱。19年来,经济重心总的移动趋势为先由东北向西南移动,再由西南向东北推进,但移动轨迹呈现出一定的曲折和波动,其年移动距离和方向与区域经济发展水平、速度及政策等显现正相关关系,反映出区域不同时期发展战略政策的变化。     

THE PHYSICAL FACTOR IN THE SYSTEM OF CONDITIONS DETERMINING THE LOCATION OF INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION IN THE USSR

The generally accepted view that material-intensive industries tend to gravitate toward raw-material sources is analyzed in the case of the USSR. Primary processing is found to gravitate toward raw-material sources mainly in underdeveloped parts of the country. In the developed zone (European USSR, Urals, Transcaucasia), a significant spatial gap has developed between primary processing activities and raw-material sources as the original local resources become depleted and the industry must draw increasingly on long-haul raw materials. Several industrial groups are distinguished in terms of the pull of resource sites. In view of the current trend toward greater concentration of production (for cost-benefit reasons) and the growing volumes of production per establishment, primary processing establishments are usually dependent on more than one resource site, and this also tends to increase the length of haul. At the same time, the distribution of fuels, energy and water resources is assuming greater significance and tends to pull such industries as iron and steel, nonferrous metals, pulp and paper as well as petroleum refining toward the eastern areas of the USSR. The controversy over the location of a new integrated iron and steel plant based on ore from the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly is recalled.