From the «point of growth» to a remote area: the socio-economic problems of the northern settlements

Abstract

In this article, we aim to determine the dynamics of the position of a territory in the structure of communica-tion network, the transport system of the region, to assess the degree of accessibility for the settlements located in the borderzone in the basin of the Lyapin and Nadym Rivers (North-Western Siberia), and to identify the prob-lems related to the low accessibility of residence areas. The sources for the research were the authors' fieldwork materials, acquired during the expeditions to the Berezovsky district of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Region of Ugra (2012, 2018, 2019) and Nadym district of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region (2017, 2019). It has been revealed that, during the 20th century, there was a gradual change in the status of the settlements — they ceased being transit centres on important for Siberia trade routes. Despite the qualitative change in travel technologies from the beginning of the 20th century, residents of remote settlements are limited in their movements, which is associated with the inaccessibility and cost of travel. The reason behind this is the lack of roads, railways, perma-nent navigable waterways, and distance from transport hubs. The transportation network, linked to industrial set-tlements and cities, creates conditions for territorial inequality, socio-territorial stratification and socio-economic asymmetry. An important resource for inhabitants of these poorly accessible areas are waterways and frozen soils, which allow building and using of the so-called winter roads that can be operated only in winter conditions.