Rural Settlement in the Russian Steppe Zone in the Post-Soviet Period

Abstract

The purpose is to analyze the specifics of adaptation of rural settlement of the steppe zone to the challenges of the post-Soviet socio-economic transformation of the country against the background of Russia as a whole, as well as to identify spatial differences within the steppe zone. Materials and methods. The information base was the statistical data of the Federal State Statistics Service and the materials of the last three population censuses (1989, 2002, 2010). The article attempts to identify the main features and trends of the dynamics of the rural population and settlement of the steppe zone during the three post-Soviet decades of the country's development on the basis of geoinformation methods and analysis tools. Results and discussion. The settlement system of the population of the steppe zone of Russia is characterized by a generally higher density of the rural population and the density of the network of rural settlements in comparison with the all-Russian indicators. At the same time, there are also significant internal contrasts in the region. The main area of concentration, as well as the steadily continuing positive dynamics of the rural population and the number of settlements, is the North Caucasus. The rest of the territory of the steppe zone of Russia, with small, local exceptions, has a significantly less dense rural population and continues to lose it. The network of rural settlements is also becoming more sparse overall. The density of the network of rural settlements in the steppe zone is strongly and very clearly correlated with the quality of natural conditions for agricultural production, as well as with the peculiarities of the geographical location. At the same time, the process of concentration of the rural population in the territories with the best quality agro-climatic resources continues. As a result, the shift of the "average demographic center" of the rural population to the west and southwest was revealed. In the period between the population censuses of 1989 and 2019 this shift for the entire rural population of Russia was more than 300 km, and for the rural population of the steppe zone – more than 100 km. Conclusions. Understanding the general trends and territorial features of the dynamics of the rural population and settlement will allow us to predict these processes and take them into account in the framework of territorial planning and socio-economic development of regions in the context of modern challenges.