Innovative development priorities of the major coastal agglomerations of the European part of Russia
- Pages
- 45-58
Abstract
The innovation development dynamics of coastal regions is under the growing influence of the agglomeration factor and the coastalization factor, which results in polarizing the innovation space around large cities and urban agglomerations in the coastal zone. Coastal agglomerations act as drivers for regional development, concentrating a significant part of the population, economic entities, scientific, technological, and financial infrastructure, drawing resources from other municipalities. This makes the innovation space uneven, promoting an internal innovation periphery and strong nuclei in the coastal zone. The purpose of this study is to identify the features and specifics of the agglomeration development in coastal regions and assess their impact on the innovation trajectory of regional innovation systems. The study focuses on the agglomerations in 5 coastal regions of Russia: Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Kaliningrad, Rostov regions, and Krasnodar Territory. The author evaluates the place of coastal and inland agglomerations in the socio-economic and innovation-technological space of the sample regions and determines the development priorities in the aspect of prominent innovation demand and its role in the regional innovation strategy. It is revealed that the coastal agglomerations concentrate a significant innovation potential of the coastal regions, and their size allows them to act as drivers of regional growth, transferring their innovation specificity to the meso-level.