Demographic transformation of post-Soviet cities of Russia

Abstract

The dynamics of the system of cities in Russia in 1989–2010 is analyzed based on the population census data in 1989, 2002, and 2010, as well as the current population register. The extent of the decline or less often of the increase of the population size are considered for cities of different sizes for each intercensal period (1989–2002 and 2002–2010) and factors contributing to this are noted. The change in the population size of cities is analyzed, depending on their size and geographical location, expressed in the distance to the center of the federal subject. It turned out that in the 1990s and in the 2000s, the population of cities of different sizes, but located at a distance of up to 50 km from the regional center increased, and at greater distances the dynamics were not so well-defined. The dependence of the growth/decline of the population of cities on their size is more variable: the population of cities of different sizes both grew and declined. The dynamics of the natural increase and migration increase of cities with different sizes of population show that the higher the population size the greater the importance of migration increase as a compensator of natural decrease.