2014 Issue №4(22)

This article explores the current condition and spatial dynamics of the key socioeconomic processes in the coastal zone of the European subcontinent at the turn of the 20th century. Europe is a region where the “coastal component” of socioeconomic development plays a major role and is therefore one of the most interesting objects for research in this field. Russian geographical proximity to the European countries, a significant number of shared problems, and a considerable potential for cooperation in solving them and developing the world ocean’s resources create grounds for an integrated study of European coastal regions. The author analyses Russian findings in the field of the socioeconomic development of coastal regions. The differences in the natural and socioeconomic conditions and resources along a significant portion of the European coastline necessitate the zoning of subcontinent’s coastal territories and contiguous water areas. The findings of EU maritime research constitute the economic and statisti cal basis of the study, whose author, relying on necessary calculations, proposes a new concept of coastal regions.The study identifies significant differences in the nature and trends in the development of European coastal regions in the first decade of the 21st century. Thus, Russian coastal regions show the most dynamic development rate. In general, coastal regions are not superior to inland European regions in terms of major development rates.

The concept of “network” is traditionally used in sociological and economic sciences and serves as an in important object of research on the organisational forms of different phenomena and processes. This article examines the use of the “network” concept in socioeconomic geography through identifying the place of this concept in the system of traditional concepts of this branch of geography: spatial system, territorial production complex, and cluster. The interaction between networks on a certain territory at a certain stage of its development comprises the framework of a region as a complex socioeconomic territorial system. The author examines economic networks as organic systems characterised by resistance to external effects and comprised of interconnected economic agents from one or several related industries. A concentration of strong connections within such network constitutes its core or a cluster. Based on a retrospective analysis of studies into the spatial organisation of economy, it is concluded that there is a need to examine network forms from the perspective of regional socioeconomic geography in the context of managerial decision-making. The regional economic geographical approach to studying network forms of spatial organisation makes it possible to take into account not only the organisational features of the network itself, but also their connections to the related contextual conditions. It is an integrated approach, thus, it makes it possible to forecast the development of a certain network form in case of a change in the conditions or factors affecting it.

The authors consider the development of urban tourism as one of the factors behind the socioeconomic development of a territory. They give estimates for tourism revenues associated with the emergence of a new attraction and its inclusion into travel itineraries and landmark maps. The authors look at the experience of development of historical European towns from the perspective of tourist attractiveness and explore the role of architectural landscape in creating a positive image of a town for tourists; they also provide a background for including historical and cultural landmarks into a traveller’s experience. The authors analyse the results of the international urban development competition for the best concept of the historical area of the centre of Kaliningrad Korolevskaya Gora and Its Surroundings/The Heart of the City. Further, they come up with recommendations on using the most interesting proposals of the contestants from the perspective of tourist attractiveness and identify the possibilities for the development of new architectural landscapes.