Pivovar

2025. Vol.10. №1.

Settlement types and settlement system along the eastern part of the Baikal-Amur Mainline (Amur Region and Khabarovsk Region)

May 21 2025

Pivovar G.A., Shirokova P.A., Prusikhin O.E., Alekseev A.I. Settlement types and settlement system along the eastern part of the Baikal-Amur Mainline (Amur Region and Khabarovsk Region) // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2025. V.10. №1. P. 123-152.

EDN: OQUDCL

Annotation

The construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM), one of the largest “megaprojects” of the Soviet Union, left a significant mark in history. At the same time, fewer works consider villages along the mainline, their contemporary life and inhabitants. The authors make an attempt to describe the settlement system along the eastern part of the BAM (between Tynda and Komsomolsk-on-Amur) and provide a typology of settlements affected by the railway based on field and statistical data. The BAM settlement system is linear due to the policy of territorial development around the railway. Thus, the authorities gave priority to industrial development at the expense of social development, and the main decisions on the location of settlements, housing and infrastructure were made at the level of individual construction sites. They were supposed to form a highly urbanized settlement system with a developed infrastructure along the road (to attract employees), but the lagging development of settlements did not allow this. Moreover, the BAM settlement system incorporated the previously existing settlements, which allows to identify two waves in the development of this territory — the long-term pre-BAM and the BAM-period. Settlements can be divided into four types based on the time of establishment, ethnic-cultural and economic characteristics: premainline ethnic settlements of indigenous communities, pre-BAM fishing settlements that grew out of outposts of prospectors and hunters, BAM intermediate urban settlements, and BAM “failed cities” — settlements at the main stations, which were supposed to become key centers of the new territory. These differences determined different ways of settlement transformations in the post-Soviet period.

Keywords

Baikal-Amur Mainline, Eastern BAM, rural settlements, urban settlements, workers’ settlements, settlement system, transformation of rural areas, typology of settlements, Amur Region, Khabarovsk Region, geographical study of rural areas.

About the authors

Pivovar Galina A., Independent Researcher in Human Geography. Novodevichiy Pr., 2, Moscow, 119435, Russia.
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Polina A. Shirokova, Independent Researcher in Human Geography. Sitnikova St., 2, Balashikha, Moscow Region, 143923, Russia.
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Prusikhin Oleg E., PhD Student, Leading Engineer, Department of Economic and Social Geography of Russia, Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University; Research Intern, Center for Spatial Analysis and Regional Diagnostics, Institute of Applied Economic Studies, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. Leninskie Gory, 1, Moscow, 119991, Russia.
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Alexander I. Alekseev, DSc (Geography), Professor, Department of Economic and Social Geography of Russia, Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University. Leninskie Gory, 1, Moscow, 119991, Russia.
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Additional Info

Submitted Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Reviewed Saturday, 25 January 2025
Copyright © Auhtors, 2025
Distribution Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

2019. Vol.4. №3.

Changes of footpaths in rural areas as an indicator of the rural lifestyle transformations

Oct 06 2019

Pivovar G.A., Savoskul M.S. Changes of footpaths in rural areas as an indicator of the rural lifestyle transformations // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2019. V.4. №3. P. 156-166.

DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2019-4-3-156-166

Annotation

The article presents the results of the field study in the Ivankovsky rural settlement of the Yasnogorsk District in the Tulа Region. The case study proves the changes of footpaths in rural areas, which can serve as an indicator of the transformations of the rural lifestyle and an indicator of the transformations of the rural areas functions. The study is an example of the micro-geographical-social approach that is not popular in the Russian geography. It is based on in-depth interviews with permanent and summer residents in rural settlements. In-depth interviews were also conducted with representatives of the administration of the Yasnogorsk District and Ivankovsky rural settlement. Rural roads (footpaths) are indicators of the changes in economic activities of rural residents. Due to the increasing motorization of rural areas, footpaths become an outdated way to connect rural areas. Rural footpaths respond very quickly to changes in the economic landscape—respectively, they grow or disappear. Moreover, the growth of the road network indicates the emergence of new forms of rural activities as new residents move to rural areas and use rural territories differently, i.e. change the types of use of rural areas.

Keywords

Russian rural areas, walking (pedestrian) paths (footpaths), lifestyle transformations

About the authors

Pivovar Galina A., Manager of Educational Programs, Moscow School of Management Skolkovo. Novaya St., 100, Skolkovo, Odintsovsky District, Moscow Region, 43025.
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Savoskul Maria S., DSc (Geography), Head of the Department of Economic and Social Geography of Russia, Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University. Leninsky Gori, 1, GSP-1, Moscow, 119991.
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