Gusakov T. Yu. Historical transformation and factors of the rural settlement sustainability in the Steppe Crimea // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2026. V.11. №3. P. 244-270.

EDN: VYWQST

Annotation

The article considers the historical transformation of the rural settlement patterns in the Steppe Crimea on the example of the Krasnogvardeysky district and identifies factors of the contemporary sustainability of rural settlements. Based on the historical-geographical analysis, archival materials, cartographic sources, census data and statistical information, the author describes the main stages in the development of the district’s settlement network from the late 18th century to the present, showing that the current settlement system was shaped by successive waves of colonization, agricultural development, administrative and territorial reforms, deportation of the peoples of Crimea in 1944, subsequent resettlement policies, and concentration of population in the central estates of collective and state farms. The settlement’s historical age is not an independent factor of its present-day demographic sustainability. The most sustainable rural settlements are those characterized by a favorable transport-geographical location, well-developed social infrastructure, central administrative and service functions. The study revealed increasing spatial polarization of the rural settlement system, which is manifested in the population concentration in major local centers, accompanied by the depopulation of small peripheral settlements. The author argues that the contemporary model of rural settlement in the Steppe Crimea is determined to a greater extent by the system of central places and transport connections established during the Soviet period than by the time of settlement foundation. These findings contribute to a better understanding of factors of the rural settlement sustainability in regions that underwent profound historical and demographic transformations. 

Keywords

Settlement geography, rural settlement, spatial development, settlement sustainability, settlement foundation period, historical transformation.  

About the author

Timur Y. Gusakov, Researcher, Center for Agrarian Studies, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. Vernadskogo Prosp., 82, Moscow, 119571.
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