2016 Issue №2

This article defines coastal zones as a priority subject of studies in social geography and interprets coastalisation of population and economy as a key indicator of the development of a coastal zone. The author stresses the inverted coastalisation in Russia at the macro- and meso-levels and identifies its causes. The article defines the coastal zone as a full-scale, continuum-discrete phenomenon with clear crossborder characteristics and increased potential for cluster formation in the economy. Marine cross-border clusters are identified as independent typological units. Characteristics and conditions for their formation and development are described in view of contemporary geoeconomic trends. The author examines the conditions and prospects for the formation of marine cross-border clusters in the key segments of Russia’s coastal zone.

One of the key manifestations of globalisation is an increase in the spatial mobility of population involving growing numbers of people into international migration processes. This article is an attempt to assess the density of migration connections between European states based on the 1990—2015 quantitative data. An analysis of migration flows and relevant net migration and net migration and migration localisation at the national and regional levels makes it possible to identify key trends in the spatial and temporal transformation of this phenomenon on the European continent. Calculations suggest that an increase in migration has not narrowed the gap between source and recipient countries but, on the contrary, it has made it more pronounced over the recent decades. The article presents an attempt at classifying European countries by the direction and intensity of migration connections and stresses the impact of international migration on the demographic and sociocultural situation in different European states.

The article describes the results of an integral assessment of the regional social, environmental and economic systems (SEES) and the quality of life (QOL) in the regions of Russia’s Northwestern Federal District (NWFD). This work aims at giving an integrated assessment of SEES in the Arkhangelsk and Murmansk regions in comparison to the Moscow region. The authors examine the QOL in 10 NWFD regions, including the Baltic ones. The significance of the research work lies in an integrated and comprehensive assessment of the regional SEES and QOL in 2006, 2009, 2012, and 2013 in view of the effect of priorities within and between groups of assessment parameters. Another important result is the identification of ‘stability limits’, when regions retain their QOL whereas their regional environmental characteristics change. The proposed methodology is based on multi-criteria and integrated approaches, the aggregate index method, and the parameter analysis and synthesis. The assessment of SEES and QOL was performed for five classes (from ‘1 — high’ to ‘5 — poor’) based on calculating statistics for 3—6 groups of assessment criteria at two levels of convolution. The analysis of the data obtained shows an upward trend in QOL in the regions. The authors suggest assessing stability of SEES on the basis of critical values of aggregate indices, at which a given SEES maintain its characteristics and regime properties within a certain QOL class.