Arctic Single-Industry City: The Population’s Perception of Their Future in the Prospects for its Development

Abstract

Introduction. The relevance of the study is due to the strategic necessity of consolidating human capital in the Arctic territories, which determines the importance of a deeper study of the connection between the life strategies of the population and the local problems of monotowns, as hard points for the formation of the economic space of the Arctic. The purpose of the article is to identify the reasons for the formation of migration attitudes of the population of the monotown. Materials and Methods. The information basis of the study was the data of official statistics and the results of a questionnaire based survey of the population of Kostomuksha district, conducted in the fall of 2021. The participants of the survey were representatives of the population permanently residing in the district, aged 15‒74. The average age of the respondents was 44.9. The sample size was 697 people. The analysis was conducted using the SPSS software. The final conclusions were based on a combination of methods of spatial economics, the theory of sustainable development and the dialectical approach. Results. Environmental features were identified by way of comparing the data of sociological survey of the population (town’s problems, satisfaction with different aspects of life), the results of previous studies and expeditions of the authors and the data of official statistics. The severity and features of the migration attitudes of the population were established, the social portrait of the migration-prone part of the population was examined. Discussion and Conclusion. Based on the correlation between the environmental features of the territory and the results of the migration attitudes analysis, conclusions were made concerning the competitiveness of Kostomuksha district in terms of reproduction of its human capital and social sustainability, sustainable and favorable ecological conditions, supported in part by the stable operation of the city-forming enterprise, as well as general protection of the population from crime. Measures were proposed for the transition to an expanded quality of human capital reproduction. The results of the study and the identified threats to local social stability make it possible to form an analytical basis for their timely elimination, and, in a broader context, are of practical importance for managing the development of the Russian Arctic economic space at all levels of administrative regulation. The findings will form the basis of analytical materials addressed to the subjects of state and municipal government.