2021 Issue №2

Rural settlement in Russia and its dynamics are subject to the general laws of spatial development of the economy and demography, the most im­portant of which is polarization. At the same time, regional settlement sys­tems differ greately due to both physical and economic geographical factors, which may show some discrepencies because of the vast country's territory. These differences are taken into account in the Spatial Development Strategy of the Russian Federation, but require further study through identification of criteria for assessing regional settlement systems and concretization of regula­tion measures. The ways of the settlement evolution should also be taken into account in the strategies of the regional socio-economic development. Having studied the statistical data published by Rosstat, the article analyzes the terri­torial features of rural settlement and its changes in relation to the level, structure and dynamics of agricultural production in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Given their essential ekistic and economic charac­teristics, the author made a typological grouping of regions, which is intended for practical use in the regional policy of the state and in the preparation of spatial and strategic planning documents at the regional level. The author suggests adapting the concept of the Unified Settlement System, developed in the Soviet period, in orfer to improve the regional systems of settlements in Central Russia.

In the late XX — early XXI centuries, the growth of marine activity is one of the most obvious and significant global trends. The multidimensional "turn" to the Sea is fully inherent in modern Russia. The article attempts to comprehend and conceptualize the effects of the spatial concentration of the national "marine" economy, as well as its complex formation and clusteriza­tion in the framework of the conceptual development of the "strongholds of coastal borderlands", understood as a special socio-geographical (economic-geographical and, at the same time, geo-economic, geopolitical) compact for­mation in the structure of the coastal zone. The essential features of the "strongholds" are identified, including its "focus", "amphibian", contact, cross-border nature, compatibility of structural elements, priority of infra­structure functions, conjugation with other similar "strongholds of coastal borderlands", geo-economic and geopolitical significance. The most important typological characteristics of the "strongholds of coastal borderlands" are em­phasized: "place" (position), "weight" (including the actual marine economy), functionality, and economic structure. Priority attention is paid to the dy­namic aspect of the typology-the grouping of "strongholds of coastal border­lands" in the dichotomy "stability-variability", "development-degradation". The conceptual and theoretical generalizations are illustrated by concrete ex­amples of the spatial dynamics of Russia's marine activity and the corre­sponding typological groupings of its "strongholds of coastal borderlands".

Recognizing the leading role of large urban agglomerations in the devel­opment of any region, it should be noted that small towns perform their equal­ly important function as reference points in the regional framework of the set­tlement system. In strategic regions, like the ones of the Western borderland, small towns, inter alia, become significant for ensuring national interests along the state border of Russia. The article presents the author's version of the typology of small towns in the Western borderlands of Russia, based on the statistical and analytical databases. Due to the limited research tools for assessing the level of development and quality of life in individual cities, the proposed assessment methodology may be interesting for conducting similar studies in some other regions of Russia. The results of the typological research showed that only 10 % of small cities in the Western borderlands can be clas­sified as relatively prosperous, in which over the past 10 years the population has grown (or decreased, but the rate of decline was below the average regional values), and urban environment in the cities has enabled to classify them as favorable.

As part of the study, the authors have considered the Interreg Programme as a tool for the cross-border cooperation development. The projects granted from «Russia — Lithuania» Interreg Cross-Border Cooperation (CBC) Pro­gramme 2014—2020 and «Poland — Russia» Interreg CBC Programme 2014—2020 have been the research subjects. The authors have identified the most active actors of cross-border cooperation from the Kaliningrad region and the border regions of Lithuania and Poland and have compared the out­comes with the results of the previous Cross-Border Cooperation (CBC) Pro­grammes. The research has recognized the municipalities constantly partici­pating in the projects, aimed at promoting social and economic development and strengthening international cooperation. The research objective has been to analyze and compare the results of the implementation of the CBC Pro­grammes in different programme periods. It has singled out the tendencies in the cross-border cooperation development in the Kaliningrad region of the Rus­sian Federation. The authors relied on the methodology based on a desk re­search analysis (literature review, the previous authors research and reports regarding the implementation of the CBC programmes) as well as a quantita­tive analysis and qualitative research methodology (interviews conducted with the project executors). Projects beneficiaries on the Lithuanian-Polish border­land in 2020 were also interviewed and it helped to compare the implementa­tion procedures of the projects co-financed by the Interreg Programme: the projects on the Lithuanian-Polish borderland with the projects of the CBC programmes «Poland — Russia» и «Lithuania — Russia». The study also re­ferred to the results of the official evaluation of the Interreg Programmes made in 2018 and 2019 on the other European borders. The authors themselves par­tic­ipate in implementation of cross-border projects so an observation method has been used as well.