2023 Vol. 15 №2

The distance of migration is closely linked to life course events, which are, in turn, marked by age. It serves as a criterion for distinguishing migration from other forms of spatial mobility. This paper aims to calculate the average distance of domestic migrations in Russia between 2011 and 2020, considering various migrant profiles such as sex, age, and type of residential registration. The Euclidean distance between 130,000 geocoded Russian settlements was computed to estimate migration distances. These geospatial data enabled us to obtain estimations of migration distances by weighting the total distance of all migrations based on their respective numbers. The distance of internal migration was similarly estimated, taking into account age, sex, and type of residential registration. The findings revealed that 31.3 % of domestic residential relocations occurred within very short distances not exceeding 50 km, while 43.5 % took place within 100 km of the previous place of residence. Calculating the average migration distance allowed us to identify two peaks: one at the ages of 22—23, present only for men, and another at the ages of 50—70. In all other cases, there were no sex-specific differences in migration distances. Migrants who obtained permanent registration at their new place of residence tended to cover greater distances compared to those registered only temporarily. The shortest relocation distances were associated with the age of 16, which could be attributed to prospective students moving to the nearest town where a vocational school is located.

As a scientific method, comparative studies respond to the needs of society. However, the logic of globalisation has reduced the demand for comparative analysis in international and national (regional) studies. Nevertheless, old, settled coastal areas —  which European urban science considers as evidence of the decisive effect of coastal position on spatial development and urbanisation —  remain valid research objects. Achieving corresponding theoretical and practical goals requires qualitative and quantitative analysis of urbanisation in coastal areas. This article aims to determine whether the territorial support frameworks of settlement in the St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad regions meet the modern conditions of settlement system development. A cartographic modelling of the settlement structures of the two Russian regions was carried out using Golden Software Surfer 20. The models obtained were supplemented with isolines reflecting the fields of the spatial structure of urban settlement. The settlement systems were analysed from the standpoint of transport communications, using the Engel and Goltz coefficients. The coefficient values show that road transport is the most developed in the study regions, while river transport is the least developed. It is concluded that spatial development is leading to urbanisation and reinforcing the monocentric model of spatial structure. However, the economic effects of monocentricity are almost exhausted, and the limits of polarisation and effective growth attainable with the model are nearly reached. This calls for a transition to a polycentric urbanisation model through developing local centres and enhancing transport connectivity between them. It seems that, in the new economic and political conditions, Russia’s two coastal border regions will benefit the most from the linear-­nodal settlement. The study identified the local cores that can lay the foundation for the transition to the new settlement model.

This article aims to analyse current geodemographic changes in Poland, based on the data of the 2021 National Population and Housing Census. Methods, traditional for socioeconomic geography, such as zoning, were employed. Poland’s population decreased during the inter-­census period (2011—2021), with the urban population declining faster than its rural counterpart. The large voivodeships aligned along the Vistula ‘axis’ — Mazowiecka, Lesser Poland and Pomerania — outperform other Polish regions in geodemographic terms. The situation is relatively favourable in Greater Poland, where the country’s main motorways converge. Districts and voivodeships where the geodemographic situation is more vulnerable can be divided into two groups: depressed and backward. The first one includes the traditionally industrial voivodeships of Southern and Central Poland; the second mainly consists of eastern voivodeships. The population decline in Eastern Poland is gathering pace: the 2021 census shows, a more or less favourable geodemographic situation is observed only in the main eastern cities and their environs. This state of affairs is largely due to the Polish government deliberately halting cooperation with Russia and Belarus, including cross-­border collaborations. Yet, this decision seems to create more problems for Poland than its eastern neighbours. If the current trends persist, the eastern voivodeships, the stronghold of the right-wing conservatives in power, may not only rapidly lose population but also face a reduction in the level of socioeconomic development.