EDN: NMKTIG
The article considers the features of post-Soviet migration of the rural youth in Russian regions based on the statistical data and interviews with rural school graduates, their parents and experts. The author used the age shift method to show a longterm increase in the migration outflow of the rural youth in the post-Soviet period — from 5% to more than 18% — for cohorts born in the late 20th century. The results of the study confirmed the low attractiveness of rural areas in most regions of Russia for living. The author identified eight types of regions based on the features of post-Soviet migration of the rural youth: only three types show a smaller outflow of the youth from rural areas; for each type, the ratio of push, pull and attracting factors for the rural youth is presented. Based on the field materials, the author describes a type of return migration which is quite rare for rural regions: the return of the youth is highest in the southern agrarian regions and in the national republics of the North Caucasus; its distribution in these regions is limited. Return migration of the youth to rural areas is described on the example of eight rural districts of Bashkortostan, Krasnodar Region, Dagestan and North Ossetia–Alania. In the national republics of the North Caucasus, the return of the youth to rural areas is influenced by the social factor and the low competitiveness of rural school graduates in urban labor markets, in the Krasnodar Region — by the large-scale settlement in rural areas and high barriers for the rural youth in cities (like high real estate prices).
Rural youth, population migration, educational migration, return migration, migration factors, rural areas.
Linar R. Imangulov, Junior Researcher at the Scientific Center for the Study of Rural Issues at Vernadsky University, Balashikha, Moscow Region, 50 Entuziastov Highway. PHD student, Engineer, Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Leninskie Gory, 1, 119991.
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DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2021-6-1-126-153
The article is based on the presentation made on March 11, 2021 at the scientific seminar of the Chayanov Research Center and the Center for Agrarian Studies of the RANEPA. The presentation summarized publications based on the research supported by the Russian Science Foundation (project No. 19-17-00174 “Development of the old-developed regions under the social-economic polarization and the reduction of the developed space of European Russia”). The research aimed at identifying challenges and consequences of the Russian spatial polarization for rural areas at different levels – from regional to local – on the example of Central Russia (including the Moscow Region and its neighboring regions). The author considers features of rural areas in Central Russia, describes trends of their development and consequences of the longterm rural depopulation which was especially strong around the Moscow Region. The author focuses on different types of migration (interregional, intraregional and international) and their reasons; identifies centers of the contemporary population concentration; describes the transformation of agriculture in these regions, its organizational and spatial changes, the main trends in the decline and revival of agricultural production and its impact on rural settlement; proves that the polarization of rural areas affects all levels – regions, municipal districts and settlements. The article is based on the integrated approach that considers rural areas in their interaction with cities: the influence of urban investments on the development of rural areas, the increasing concentration of the rural population in the suburbs, the role of summer residents in the redevelopment of rural areas and in the preservation of rural settlements. Finally, the author assesses the consequences of the authorities’ decisions for rural areas.
Old-developed regions, cities, rural areas, agriculture, population migration, land use, summer residents.
Tatyana G. Nefedova, DSc (Geography), Chief Researcher, Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences. 119017, Moscow, Staromonetny per., 29.
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