Abstract
The article studies current trends in Moscow population in context of socio- economic polarization strengthening between the capital city and other regions of the country. The study applies multiscale approach covering Moscow influence on Central Russia and other regions, interaction with the Moscow oblast and the level of internal population distribution within Moscow and particular settlements and villages in New Moscow territories. The gap in development is significantly noticeable for expanding Moscow and Moscow oblast against the background of depopulation in Central Russia regions and cities. Within the boundaries of Moscow the continuing model of extensive spatial growth of population has led to the most rapid growth of its periphery zone. Areas similar to bedroom communities in Old Moscow are forming in the municipalities of New Moscow located along the Moscow ring road (MKAD) and main radial highways, while large part of the new territories remain a typical countryside with villages and summer residents. Analysis of New Moscow suburban areas reveals the actual land use mosaics obscured by the official delimitation of Moscow and Moscow oblast and the formal division of population into urban and rural.
Highlights
Contrasts between major cities and the rest of the territory are a typical feature of Russia
In the 2000s, against the background of the depopulation of a significant part of regions, Moscow shows a continuous growth of its demographic potential associated with the significant advancing of social and economic development of the city compared to the rest of the territories, which led to a sharp increase in its attractiveness and rapid population growth
While the population of about 70% of Russia's cities decreased, Moscow continued to grow at a high rate, as a result its share in the country's population increased even more, emphasizing the global trend of greater spatial development heterogeneity
Summary
Contrasts between major cities and the rest of the territory are a typical feature of Russia. In the late Soviet times, there were attempts to smoothen these contrasts by locating industrial enterprises in small towns and improving wages and living conditions in small settlements. This was only partly successful in suburbs and in the South, and after the market returned at the turn of the millennium, the contrast of the Russian space increased. From 1913 to 2000, the urban population increased almost sevenfold, and the proportion of city dwellers reached 70%. In the early 1990s, due to political transformations and the economic crisis, the urban population ceased to grow, in the late 1990s Russia returned to the stage of active urbanization (Nefedova and Treivish 2019). Under the influence of agglomeration effects, the concentration of population and economy in the largest centers leads to increased socio-economic polarization between cities and rural areas and between cities, which manifests itself at various levels in strengthening gradients between cities of different sizes in terms of income, investment in fixed capital, housing development, retail trade turnover, and average life standards
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