The Present State of the Natural Environment in Europe

The impact of industrialization and urbanization on the natural environment of Europe is analyzed and compared on the basis of regional reports submitted by 15 nations to the 1968 Unesco conference on the resources of the biosphere. For purposes of analysis, the nations of Europe have been grouped into capitalist countries, the socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and the USSR. All of them are found to be affected by the same problems of increasing volumes of industrial and municipal wastes, a drift of population to the cities and growing air and water pollution. But the socialist nations are said to be distinguished from the capitalist countries in implementing systematic government control over all forms of pollution, providing recreational zones for the population at large, expanding a network of natural areas with conservation and amelioration of flora and fauna, and carrying out a broad program of transformation of nature designed to make optimal use of resources and to conserve and ameliorate the environment.     

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.     

An Evaluation of the Territory of Moscow Oblast in Terms of Physiologic-Climatic Parameters

A regionalization of Moscow Oblast is derived from a physiologic-climatic evaluation for purposes of settlement and recreation. The evaluation is based on the frequency of occurrence of particular classes of weather through the year. The most common classes in Moscow Oblast are the 1C class (light negative heat balance), which is determined by global macrofactors and produces an undifferentiated background in the oblast, and the N class (comfortable condition of heat equilibrium) and 2C class (moderately negative heat balance), which reflect more localized factors and can be used for a differentiated evaluation of physiologic-climatic conditions. Eleven physiologic-climatic regions are delimited on the basis of the difference between the number of days with comfortable conditions (N class) and the number of moderately cold days (2C class). Optimal conditions for settlement and recreation are found south and southeast of Moscow; the most unfavorable in the low-lying swampy Dubna area, where the Moscow-Volga canal meets the Volga River.     

THE LOCATION OF METAL-INTENSIVE AND LABOR-INTENSIVE INDUSTRIES IN THE EASTERN REGIONS

The author argues against the widespread view (stated in several articles in Soviet Geography) that labor-intensive industries should be kept out of Siberia because of the shortage of labor resources in that region. Taking the specific example of labor-intensive machinery industry such as instrument-making, as opposed to steel-intensive industry, he points out that labor-intensive plants, by virtue of their smaller size, usually have smaller labor requirements than large heavy-machinery manufacturing plants. Moreover, he argues, location must not be based on total population or total labor resources of a region, but on the availability of so-called free (nonemployed) labor resources, which consist largely of women and of young people just entering upon a career. This category of labor resources happens to be greater in the eastern regions than in the western regions of the Soviet Union. In fact, one reason for the net out-migration from Siberia, according to the author, is that second and third members of households find it difficult to obtain jobs in a regional economy that is largely oriented toward male employment (in extractive industry, timber felling, etc.). The introduction of labor-intensive industries into existing Siberian industrial complexes would thus help provide employment to other household members and eliminate one reason for out-migration.     

THE SOCIAL EVALUATION OF A TERRITORY UNDER CONDITIONS OF THE SCIENTIFIC-TECHNICAL REVOLUTION

The present practice of economic and technological evaluation of a territory for development purposes is found to be inadequate because the evaluation made by Soviet planning and design agencies does not always coincide with the perception of particular places by individual citizens. As a result, the outflow from rural areas has been particularly heavy in areas where agricultural labor is especially short, and the predominant direction of interregional migration has been southward rather than to the east, where it is most needed. It is therefore suggested that spatial planning is based on a social evaluation of territory that would eliminate the present conflicts in perception and bring the interests of society more into line with the interests of individual citizens. Social evaluation is based on two value indicators: (1) the uniqueness of the creative process localized in a particular place, tending to make that place attractive; (2) accessibility of the place from surrounding areas. One possible approach to measuring the social attractiveness of a place is the extent to which individuals strive to establish direct contact (visits, direct dealings) or indirect contacts (eliciting of information) with that place.     

THE PROBLEM OF DEVELOPING RURAL SERVICES IN NOVGOROD OBLAST

Novgorod Oblast, in northwestern Russia, has been distinguished by a high rate of rural outmigration and depletion of agricultural labor resources. One key factor in slowing the flight from the land is an improvement in the quality and range of rural services. The impact of adequate services is shown by available data on the distribution of rural population by distance from service centers. The rate of decline of rural population is generally found to be lower in places near service centers than in more remote places. Since most of the rural places are too small to support service establishments, it is recommended that services be expanded in about 200 central places that show promise of future growth.     

TECHNIQUES FOR INVESTIGATING THE ECONOMIC BASE OF CITIES

Economic-base analysis is applied to 15 small towns of Vologda Oblast in northern European Russia in an attempt to analyze the provision of services in these urban places. The employment structure of the town of Kadnikov, based on a “firm-by-firm” approach, is used as the standard to prorate total employment into basic and nonbasic components. The Kadnikov standard is then applied to the other towns and any excess in employment beyond the nonbasic Kadnikov standard is allocated to the basic sector. The higher proportion of basic employment in some of the study towns is interpreted as reflecting inadequate development of service activities. The analysis suggests that the small towns of Vologda Oblast are relatively well served by education, public health and retail trade-at any rate they are no worse off than the standard town, Kadnikov-but lag in the provision of housing and repair services. Economic-base concepts developed by J. W. Alexander and G. Alexandersson in the 1950s are used as a point of departure.     

Marginal Cost Estimates of the Water Resources of the USSR

A water-management regionalization and determination of marginal cost estimates of water resources over the next three decades (to about 2000) outlines a set of priorities for the construction of dams and interbasin diversion projects. The predicted water requirements are based on the assumption that irrigation needs will increase at a moderate rate (30 million hectares by the end of the forecast period). The resulting marginal cost estimates are expected to affect long-term plans for the location of water-intensive activities (irrigation, water transport, thermal power generation, chemicals, pulp and paper) for which water costs may represent 40 to 50 percent of the total cost difference between alternate locations.     

CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS IN THE CONSTRUCTIVE GEOGRAPHY OF LARGE CITIES

The increasing impact of urbanization on the natural environment and physical constraints on city planning in the various natural zones of the USSR call for a program of research that would bring to bear the tools of the various geographical disciplines on the problem and might give rise to a distinctive geography of city planning. Geomorphology might be concerned with a variety of caving and slumping processes typical of large cities; climatology with the impact of cities on the microclimate of an area; hydrology with watertable changes and water-management problems, and biogeography with the distinctive plant and animal life of large cities and urban agglomerations. More complex, integrated research in both physical and economic geography would deal with the choice of suitable sites for new cities, particularly in extreme types of environment; with predictive aspects of the impact of urbanization, and the functional structure of cities. A number of cities and parts of cities with different layouts and different environmental settings should be designated as experimental study areas for geographical research of a more systematic character.     

COMPARATIVE GEOGRAPHY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE USSR: AN INITIAL INVESTIGATION

Several aspects of the distribution of institutions of higher education and their graduates are compared for the Soviet Union and the United States. The concentration of institutions and students is found to be greater in the USSR. Differences in regional enrollment rates relative to the location of institutions and students may be partly explained by differences in the curriculum structure of American and Soviet institutions of higher education and the greater degree of local control over higher education in the United States. A direct relationship exists in both countries between the percentage of graduates in a region and percentage urban and per capita income. Regional inequality in the percentage of graduates in urban versus rural areas is much greater in the USSR while regional inequality in the percentage of male and female graduates was only somewhat greater in the United States. Level of urbanization, migration of students and graduates, economic opportunity and economic structure are seen as important factors helping explain regional variation in the distribution of graduates.