Publications

Estimates of the gross urban product (GUP), GUP per capita and GUP growth rates are compared with the level and evolution of gross domestic product (GDP) and gross regional product (GRP) to examine relationships between the structure of urban economies and economic development. Agglomeration economies are manifested in the largest capital cities of Russian regions, but the benefits differ significantly between capital cities since they depend on economic structure and efficiency. A test of the hypothesis that housing construction is a driver of the economic growth of capital city economies was rejected because no causal relationship was found between housing construction and GUP in most of the cities.

This article describes the normative system that attempts to regulate online behaviour in the sphere of premarital romantic relationships of the second-generation migrants whose parents came to Russia from societies of the South Caucasus which regulate female behaviour more strictly. Based on a mixed-method study, which included a survey, a series of semi-structured interviews and digital ethnography, we describe the norms as well as the means by which they are enforced. We show that this normative system is rooted in the cultural concept of namus, which regulates the behaviour of females, while the control function is imposed mainly on their male relatives. We argue however, that these norms are widely circumvented and e-namus (manifestation of namus on the web) can barely prevent second-generation migrant females from having online romance. This brings about a radical change in gender relations altogether. The article contributes to the literature related to offline-online normative transfer, online dating, second-generation migrants’ romantic relationships and intergenerational value change.

The purpose of this chapter is to study the specifics of landscape visualization of the Arctic geo-cultural space in the context of the processes of decolonization and post-exoticism on the example of North-Eastern Chukotka. The study is based on a conceptual analysis of photographs from my personal expedition archive, and it employs two basic concepts, landscape assemblage and visual dispositive.In general, the postcolonial landscape of the North-Eastern Chukotka is characterized by a mixture of the visual dispositives we have identified. These dispositives, intertwining and interacting with each other, create multiple, constantly transforming landscape assemblages. In turn, landscape assemblages are active representatives of the decolonization of the basic geo-cultures of this Arctic region. In the visual aspect, this means fragmentation and simultaneously fractalization of the traditional “colonial view” of the Arctic landscape. Within the framework of the presented visual dispositives, the phenomena of post-exoticism and internal exoticism are formed, making it impossible to return to pre-colonial “landscape optics”.

The purpose of the work is to draw attention to the existing hidden reserves of increasing the efficiency of systems, in which solutions for their optimisation are associated with the analysis of models of problems of the theory of queueing networks (for example, problems of transport support for the supply of multiple orders). We are talking about such models that correlate precisely with the choice of queueing the existing portfolio of orders. Approaches to the optimisation of such systems are considered, allowing to consider the random nature of the change in the rates of fines over time and special additional costs related to the moment of order set formation.

Contributing to literature on composition of social ties of migrants, this article argues that “co-ethnic” ties, often included into analysis as a homogeneous entity, are either the ones obtained in the sending society, thus connecting a migrant to his relatives and neighbors from the community of origin, or the ones acquired in the receiving society and connecting people from different parts of the sending country. Basing on results of a survey of Kyrgyz migrants in Moscow, the authors show that this distinction is associated with difference in patterns, such as economic advancement, attitude toward ethnic category of belonging, and remitting behavior, which together comprise specific modes of integration for migrants. The explanations of these differences are suggested. Also, the mechanism of change of prevalent type of co-ethnic ties in migrants’ ego-networks from “homeland-rooted” to acquired in the receiving society is described.

This paper discusses the recent introduction of master planning tool in the Russian system of urban planning. Public authorities claim that under obsolescence and rigidity of the existing system of spatial planning master plans should become an effective solution for urban growth and development. Despite all the attention, published master plans have an unclear legal status and their introduction often results in some degree of overlap and blurring with existing spatial development institutions. The research critically examines i) how master plans are (not?) being incorporated in existing urban planning institutes ii) the reasons of master planning practice emergence. Going beyond transitional frameworks, the study discusses institutional change in urban planning in a post-socialist city.

This paper discusses the recent introduction of master planning tool in the Russian system of urban planning. Public authorities claim that under obsolescence and rigidity of the existing system of spatial planning master plans should become an effective solution for urban growth and development. Despite all the attention, published master plans have an unclear legal status and their introduction often results in some degree of overlap and blurring with existing spatial development institutions. The research critically examines i) how master plans are (not?) being incorporated in existing urban planning institutes ii) the reasons of master planning practice emergence. Going beyond transitional frameworks, the study discusses institutional change in urban planning in a post-socialist city.

We consider transformations of random variables on finite sets by algebraic operations. A system of operations is said to be approximation complete if any random variable may be approximated with arbitrary precision by applying the given operations to mutually independent identically distributed random variables whose distributions have no zero components. We establish some necessary conditions for a function system to be approximation complete and construct examples of approximation incomplete systems.

The report presents an approach to the filtration of alternatives when choosing a counterparty for horizontal cooperation based on multiple criteria. Filtration procedures precede the optimization procedures for multi-criteria decisions. The filtration is based on the theory of binary relations and preserves only alternatives-majorants in relation to a strict order according to a given criterion. Presented approach eliminates ineffective alternatives without significant quality degradation of the resulting choice. These procedures are implemented in a numerical example for the following generalized selection criteria: scalar; ideal point; geometric mean.

The urban agenda in Post-Soviet Russia can be characterized as an ongoing competition of two regulation concepts. The commencing of the Urban Planning Code of Russia in 2004 introduced the concept of legal zoning and land-use regulation, dismissing state’s monopoly over urban planning. However, this concept has been challenged over time by the aspiration of the state to retain control over regulation and, therefore, endorse the tradition of manual control regulation. Presently, the morphological parameters of the urban environment are not treated as subjects of regulation, what gives rise to large-scale development in historical cores. This gap in the regulation system exposes the extreme vulnerability of historical morphotypes in urban centres. In order to address this weakness, the implementation of masterplan and form-based code is currently discussed in the professional community. Form-based code principles accentuate materiality of the urban form and introduce the parameters of physical environment as a prevailing subject of regulation to the zoning system, whereas masterplan is a tool for setting the objectives and principles of the spatial development of the territory. Urban cores of historical cities have become the realm of experimentation with different approaches to regulation and planning. This paper accumulates the empirical experience from the pilot projects of new regulation activities in the so-called ‘historical settlements’ – Kazan, Samara, Orenburg and Saratov. In the paper we address the issue of providing functional and economic flexibility of historical environment, simultaneously ensuring the purpose of heritage preservation and sustainable urban development.

Key words: regulation, form-based code, morphological approach, historical cores.

The research question of the paper is how to utilize ecosystem studies to refresh our research of the contemporary Russian Arctic cities, to deepen our understanding of the difference between resilient and sustainable cities, and to create a methodological approach to measure the resilience capacity of the Arctic cities. The paper describes three main stages-directions of the latest study of the Arctic cities: (i) Arctic urbanization as a global phenomenon; (ii) emphasis on the internal structure of the Arctic city; and (iii) analysis and assessment of the viability and sustainability of Arctic cities. The most important lesson of Soviet studies of the Arctic is the need for a holistic view of the ecosystems of the polar regions, overcoming the temptation to reduce to only one, even a powerful, factor, for example, climate change. Following this methodology, the authors propose a comprehensive approach to assessing the viability of a sample of the 29 largest Arctic cities in Russia, including three blocks of nine indicators covering the external location of the city, internal spatial structure, and structural flexibility of the urban system. As the result of aggregation of three blocks of indicators, an integral index of the viability (resilience capacity) of the Arctic cities to external natural and social crises has been proposed. According to the value of this integral index of vitality, modern Russian Arctic cities are colossally different in the strength of their external position, in the degree of diversity of their spatial and economic structure, in the degree of flexibility of the urban system. Old-developed cities of the European North like Arkhangelsk, Severodvinsk and Onega have the best positions. They are followed by the large Soviet port and industrial centre of Murmansk and most of the single-industry cities in the Murmansk Oblast, and then by the monoprofile cities of Yamal-Nenets autonomous okrug and the capital of Nenets autonomous okrug Naryan-Mar. The list is by large, by Arctic standards, single-industry cities of the Asian Arctic—Norilsk, Nadym, Dudinka and the administrative centre of the Chukotka autonomous okrug Anadyr, which all have the worst positions in terms of resilience capacity. The paradox of our approach to assessing the viability of Russia's Arctic cities is that the further an Arctic city is from the classical canons of a Soviet industrial city, the more resilient it is.

This article examines the crisis of informal urban imagery as an indicator of a crisis of urban communication. It refers to the situation of the late 2010s–20s when the saturation of the city with graffiti and street art became a new urban routine. The article argues that compared to the past, it is not the presence but the absence of informal urban imagery or a sharp disproportion in favor of commercial or propaganda images that indicates a crisis of urban communication. Focusing on Moscow, the article shows that the ‘absence’ of informal imagery results from the project of world-class city making that includes the large-scale reorganization of the urban environment and the top-down muralization. Street artists contest the ‘absence’ through small urban inscriptions that enrich urban communication with new meanings. These informal street images initiate spontaneous discussions involving urban dwellers in a dialogue that does not fit the ‘programmable communication’ imposed by the reorganized urban environment. The article assumes that the crisis of urban imagery and communication is not general and uniform, therefore, the analysis at the city level is needed to identify its scope and character.

Memory narratives commonly include characters such as heroes (triumphant or fallen), martyrs, perpetrators, and victims. In recent years, the victim has become the central character in the dominant, western-centric, and globalized memory culture. A victim’s definition is problematic: few existing memory narratives include “ideal,” or innocent victims who suffered meaninglessly. The lines between victims and other characters in memory narratives are blurry in many cases, for instance, between a victim and a perpetrator. Using the case of Russian museums dedicated to the Soviet repressions, I study the problematic relation between victims and heroes, adding to the discussion of the victim character’s complexity. Often, victims of Soviet repressions are presented as both victims of political persecution and heroes who did not just suffer through their imprisonment but continued to live productive and creative lives. The resulting victim-hero character indicates that the category of a victim is too limiting and adds to calls for the theorization of victim taxonomy.

In the second half of the 18th century large-scale transformations known in historical science as Catherine II’s provincial reform took place in Russia. As a result, an extensive network of arms of government in which regional authorities worked headed by governors appeared. Beside that in regions there were created numerous administrative units tasked at local management including fire engineering services, educational institutions, relief aid committees, hospitals, theaters, libraries, etc. In this publication the reform of local management of the second half of the 18th century is not shown briefly as a general process on materials of all huge Russian Empire. On the opposite the author explores here the materials of a single historical region. Special attention is paid to the preparation and the very process of the transformations. At the same time the main objectives of the reform resulted in the creating new administrative, police, social structures are exposed to the analysis. The impact on the result of reforms by personal and professional qualiies of its chief performers – the empress’s deputies in regions is assessed in the article. As the research demonstrates, the personal factor at a stage of implementation of the program of transformations was significant. The research is performed on the extensive archive material. The majority of sources is introduced for scientific use for the first time. A territorial framework covers the central provinces of Russia: Kaluga, Vladimir, Moscow and Yaroslavl since they carry out a role of a basis of one of the main regions of the country, its historical kernel.

The geocultural space of any region is formed as a result of the interaction of two weakly separable elements – geocultures developing in the given territory and cultural landscapes. The full development of a geocultural space involves the formation of a unique ontology of imagination, which creates a cognitive “foundation” for the construction of appropriate models. Ontological models of imagination characterize the possibilities of an expanded representation and interpretation of the cultural landscapes of a region. The visuality of a cultural landscape is a complex formation in which visual reactions and reflections are the result of multiple imaginations – both personal and group. The geocultural space of the Arctic, in its visual-discursive dimension, is complex, since the tradition of the “colonial view”, coupled with the tendencies to analyze postcolonial practices and to decolonize various Arctic discourses, creates an ambivalent discursive field of relevant visual practices and policies. The existential situation of post-exoticism, typologically characteristic of the Arctic regions, is a field of ontologization of multiple visual practices that consolidate rhizomatic procedures of geocultural distinctions. As a result of a field study of the coastal territories of North-Eastern Chukotka, the most visually intensive key landscape assemblages have been identified: 1) sea hunting, 2) traditional holidays of sea hunters, 3) “pristine” nature. Landscape assemblages are represented by various visual dispositives. Visual dispositives are understood as consistently reproducing and phenomenologically fixed visual landscape (geocultural) images that characterize the specifics of certain landscape assemblages. As a result of the study, five key visual dispositives have been identified that determine the specific forms of the reproduction and development of both geo-cultures themselves and the corresponding cultural landscapes of these territories: 1) the dispositive of sea hunters, the most borderline and fractal; 2) the dispositive of holidays of the traditional culture of sea hunters; 3) the dispositive of destruction and ruin associated with both the extreme natural conditions of the region and the era of the Soviet and post- Soviet development; 4) the dispositive of the “natural”, “pristine” space associated with the low development of the territory, and 5) the dispositive of multinaturalism, manifested in the features of the visual environments of Chukchi settlements (villages, urban-type settlements, small towns). These dispositives, intertwining and interacting, create multiple, constantly transforming landscape assemblages. Within the framework of the presented visual dispositives, the phenomena of Arctic post-exoticism and internal exoticism are formed, which fix the impossibility of returning to the pre-colonial “landscape optics”.

Literary texts can be considered as the most attractive research material for analyzing the key features of both the semiotics of the city as a whole and the semiotics of individual cities, to which many works of art are devoted. The urban space of Modernity as a result of the processes of powerful semiotization can be considered as both textual and intertextual. The intertextuality of Modern urban spaces presupposes sets of "floating" topological signifiers corresponding to similar sets of "floating" topological signs. In the traditional semiotics of the city, the existence of two realities is assumed – the "real" reality and the "semiotic" reality, between which clear logical correspondences and/or relations can be observed and analyzed. The appearance of non-classical / post-classical urban narratives focused on the problems of dis-communication at the beginning of the XX century became one of the important signs of the primary formation of the phenomena of post-city and post-urbanism. The post-city is not a text and cannot be considered as a text; at the same time, it can generate separate texts that are not related to each other in any way. Post-urban texts, which are the communicative results of specific co-spatialities, remain local "flashes" that do not form a single text or meta-text (super-text). Hetero-textuality is a phenomenon of post-urban reality, which is characterized by the coexistence, as a rule, of texts that do not correlate with each other, relating to certain stable urban loci. Trans-semiotics in the general context is understood as the study of any texts that involve the creation of sign-symbolic breaks or "gaps" with any other potentially possible correlating texts in the process of signification. Trans-semiotics of post-cities are studies of (artistic) texts that involve the creation of sign-symbolic breaks or "gaps" with any other potentially possible correlating texts related to a particular urban locus in the process of signifying any urban loci. The heterostructuality of a post-city can be considered as the co-spatiality of mutually exclusive texts corresponding to "non-seeing" post-city loci. Post-urban trans-semiotics in the course of their development form a kind of "dark zones" that reject or neutralize any attempt at any semiotic interpretation.

Throughout the period after the municipal reform in 2003, the governing of Russian cities has been changing. A city as an object of governance is located at the intersection of interests of different levels of public authorities and is not limited only to local authorities This article investigates how budget autonomy of Russian cities has been changing for the last 16 years, and how exogenous economic shocks and large-scale federal initiatives such as the “May Decrees” have influenced the budget autonomy of Russian cities. The paper considers a hypothesis that there was a transition to multi-level governance of Russian cities in 2006–2019, which led to significant reduction of the budget autonomy. Budgets of the 35 largest cities of Russia (except for city-regions like Moscow and Saint Petersburg) were collected and analyzed in terms of their revenue and expenditure sections to test the proposed hypothesis. The relationship between the economic level of development and budget sufficiency was investigated with cluster analysis. The main result of this research is that Russian cities have become dependent on the financial grants from regional governments since there is no national policy of stimulating the economic development of cities. The national economic crisis of 2014 accelerated the process of governance centralization. In addition, the budget autonomy of municipalities was reduced due to the fact that achieving indicators of the May Decrees had become the primary objective for the public authorities. The share of the income tax in local budgets increased significantly although the share and diversity of other income sources decreased.

The article continues the topic of good neighborliness as an important direction for the development of neighboring and local communities. It is devoted to practical issues and social technologies of good-neighborliness, primarily the use of good-neighborly technologies in the modern housing sector, and, especially, in the housing and utility sector, given the important changes that have occurred there in the last 15 years after the adoption of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, fi rst of all — the emergence of private management organizations and new "collective customers" — residents of apartment buildings. The activity of modern management organizations, introducing their own "rules of good neighborliness" in the management of modern apartment complexes in Kirov, Nizhny Novgorod and other cities, is considered as a new model of the activity of the educational institution.