Geography of the mobile internet in the border and interior regions of Russia

The theoretical foundations of the essence and organization of the economic environment of border areas are generalized. The features of its transformation are outlined on the basis of the analysis of changes in the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of its structural elements in the context of deepening European integration processes. The priorities of the EU Regional Policy in the field of regulating the development of internal and external border regions are outlined and the main instruments for its implementation are structured. The development of border regions is monitored by the main socio-economic indicators of their development. The factors of formation and functioning of the shadow sector of the regional economy are substantiated and systematized, and the main methods of its assessment are summarized. Promising directions for the development of border areas in the context of liberalization of foreign economic activity are identified, and relevant proposals to public authorities and local governments are prepared. According to The EU Action Plan for the border regions is envisaged and systematized: Increased investment in transport infrastructure of the Trans-European Networks (TEN) by increasing the level of Community support for TEN projects to 20% to finance the most urgently needed projects in the border area; reorientation of structural instruments to maximize the impact of EU financial assistance; financing measures aimed at strengthening cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises ; providing the EU with EUR 20 million for networking activities between border regions and candidate countries within the framework of INTERREG; modification of the Phare-CBC program in order to: identifying the same priority areas under Phase CBC and INTERREG A; simplifying co-financing of transnational (INTERREG B) or interregional (INTERREG C) cooperation projects that are important for improving the socio-economic situation in the border area; launching a special program of the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support healthcare and transport infrastructure projects in the border regions of the candidate countries.

Border regions in modern conditions have a special status which is determined by the geopolitical position. The Russian-Finnish borderland was characterized by a high level of activity, which provided the border regions with opportunities for economic growth. The development of the border regions of Russia and Finland diff signifi by socio-economic indicators. A comparative analysis will make it possible to assess the existing gap between the territories and identify possible areas for cooperation between the territories. The object of the study is the border regions of Russia and Finland. The aim of the study is to assess the economic development and diff processes of the border regions of Russia and Finland. The study collected a system of indicators to analyze the development of border regions, which made it possible to assess the level of socio-economic development of border regions of Russia and Finland. The analytical work used the data of Rosstat, Finstat, on the basis of which the database on socio-economic indicators of development of border regions was collected. The comparative assessment was carried out by applying the method of factor analysis (L. Thurstone’s centroid method). Analytical work was carried out with the help of the package of applied programs Statistica. Based on a certain set of indicators refl the socio-economic development of the border regions of Russia and Finland, the characteristics were built based on the values of the regions in the space of latent factors and their heterogeneity was assessed. The construction was formed on the basis of the use of factor analysis of integral characteristics that include the socio-economic indicators under study. The conducted study of the assessment of the development of border regions of Russia and Finland has identifi a high level of lagging behind the Russian border regions from the Finnish border regions according to the majority of indicators. An important result is also a signifi diff between Finnish border regions by the cumulative factor “provision of territory with resources”, Finnish border regions showed a signifi gap in relation to each other.

In line with the observation that tourism is becoming a key element of economic development in border regions, the author describes an approach to a specific form characteristic of border regions alone, i.e. cross-border tourism and its role as a factor in the development of regional and local economies. Cross-border tourism gains presentation here in relation to the mobility of tourists (with differing purposes) between neighbouring border regions of the Russian Federation and Finland, with no account taken, however, of the development and functioning of the tourist system overall. The aim has thus been to seek to substantiate the importance of the development of cross-border tourism in the socio-economic development of the Russian-Finnish borderland. In its several parts, this article focuses first on theoretical and practical developments of Russian and foreign academic thinking as regards the development of cross-border tourism. A second part then reveals (and looks for structure among) factors influencing the nature and dynamics of cross-border tourism development in the Russian-Finnish borderland. The role of these factors in the phenomenon’s development is identified. Empirical data are then used in a third part identifying features and general trends, with the stimulation of cross-border tourism considered a direction of importance in the development of border regions either side of the state border under study. Given the positive effect of cross-border trade on the development of Finnish border regions, it would seem crucial that Finnish tourists should be attracted to the Russian border area. Finally, the significance of the development of cross-border tourism in the Russian-Finnish borderland is deliberated, where the area in question is taken to encompass Murmansk Oblast, the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in Russia, as well as Finnish Lapland, Northern Ostrobothnia, Kainuu, North Karelia, South Karelia and Kymenlaakso. Median indices are calculated. The outcomes of the research are regarded as of both academic and practical significance to the development of cross-border tourism, seen academically and from the point of view of both regional and municipal authorities and representatives of the tourist industry.

The article discusses the study of the problems of economic revitalization, labor market formation and demographic development in the Georgian-Turkish border region. In the period of the Soviet Union the transition from completely closed borders to extremely liberal boundary conditions, the radical development of communication systems in the post-Soviet period has completely changed the perspective of socio-economic development in this border region. In the article there are scientifically grounded ways of socio-economic development of the region.

Unfavorable initial conditions and limited factor endowments often constrain economic development in border regions, whereas regional development policies can alter locational disadvantages and promote balanced regional development. Based on nighttime light data from 1999 to 2022, this paper employs a spatial regression discontinuity design (spatial RDD) to examine economic differences between border and non-border areas in Inner Mongolia, China, and to assess the effects of regional development policies in underdeveloped regions. The results show that, after controlling for initial endowments and economic characteristics, the Program of Border Areas Revitalization and Poverty Alleviation significantly enhances economic vitality in border regions and generates persistent growth effects; these findings remain robust after excluding potential confounding factors and conducting a series of robustness checks. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the policy effects are more pronounced in eastern Inner Mongolia, in more densely populated areas, and in regions with higher market vitality. Mechanism analysis suggests that the Program of Border Areas Revitalization and Poverty Alleviation alters locational disadvantages by strengthening the provision of public goods, thereby enhancing economic linkages across regions; the development of characteristic and comparative advantage industries promotes industrial structure upgrading and drives economic growth in border areas. Further analysis finds that the Program of Border Areas Revitalization and Poverty Alleviation reduces, to some extent, intra-regional economic disparities within border areas and promotes sustainable economic development while improving the ecological environment, further indicating that there exists a compatible pathway between regional development and ecological sustainability. Overall, this study provides spatially explicit micro-level evidence on how regional policies can reshape geographical constraints and foster balanced development in underdeveloped border regions.

The purpose of this work is to identify some issues of current sustainable development process in polyethnic border regions of Ukraine. The need to involve various domestic stakeholders (like local, regional and national authorities, businesses, households, education and research institutions, NGOs, regional development agencies) and representatives from neighboring countries in elaboration and implementation of sustainable development programs in border regions is substantiated. Conducted survey helped to identify the position of local NGOs representatives, involved into the different regional development projects, about the priority directions of sustainable development and obstacles for their realization in the polyethnic region. Certain peculiarities of sustainable development related to regional polyethnicity have been identified during the survey. Certain ways to increase the involvement of various ethnic groups in process of sustainable development in border regions have been proposed.

Mobility is a global megatrend in our contemporary world as people are constantly crossing nation-state borders for migration, tourism, work and due to mobile transnational lives. Cross-border practices contribute to (re)produce functional border regions between different countries. The current amount of information on the geographies of cross-border mobilities of people, the creation of functional cross-border regions and how these regions change over time is inadequate. As transnational phenomena are fragile to global disruptions and prone to ‘rebordering’ in times of emergency, we lack knowledge of how the COVID-19 crisis affected border practices and functioning regions. We consider mobility to be a tool for understanding society and used big data to examine cross-border mobilities between the five Nordic countries: when and where borders were crossed, how mobilities captured functional border regions, and evaluated the influence of COVID-19 on mobilities and functional border regions from a spatio-temporal perspective. The feasibility of the proposed methodology for monitoring cross-border mobilities and border regions to improve planning and development of border regions and decision-making in future crises is discussed. We studied a 4-year Twitter dataset, including the first year of the pandemic until February 2021. We found that overall cross-border mobility decreased by 68% due to the pandemic, yet with geographical and temporal variations. We showed how the influence of the pandemic on the spatial extent of functional border regions varies for a range of reasons for cross-border mobility. We discuss the feasibility of the proposed approach for monitoring cross-border interactions as the proof-of-concept for capturing functional border regions to improve planning and development of border regions and decision-making in future crises. Finally, we highlight future avenues in enhancing our proposed methodology to improve information on cross-border mobilities derived from social media data such as Twitter.

Peripheral Russian border regions traditionally lag behind in a pronounced differentiation in the development of regions. The search for ways to level differences is associated with options for diversifying the economy, including the development of tourism and the study of the specifics of its development in the border area, which is the reason for the relevance of the study. For a country in which more than half of all regions are border regions and the border is the longest in the world, the border itself is in a state of transformation, and the role of the border factor is only increasing, the study of the influence of the border factor on economic systems, including tourism, is a particularly relevant scientific and practical task. Border regions of Russia were the objects of the research. The purpose of the study is related to the development of a methodological approach to the typology of the border areas of Russia in the context of unlocking the tourism potential. The testing of this approach was carried out on a set of pre-Covid data, helping to test the hypothesis that tourism systems in border regions develop in connection with additional incentives created by the border. However, this positive impact may not manifest itself equally in all parts of the border. The authors substantiated and carried out a typology of border regions according to the peculiarities of tourism development. The typology was made using the cluster analysis method. As a result, the types of border regions were determined according to the parameters of the influence of the border position on the development of tourism. The approach to typology proposed in the paper contributes to the development of the theories of management of the spatial organization of regional economic systems. From a practical point of view, the proposed methodology and the results of typology take into account the knowledge of various aspects of border regions, help identify development incentives, make adjustments to the budgetary policy of border regions, and become the basis for developing management and investment decisions.

The work examines the main trends in the functioning of the domestic IT sector and the formation and development of digital infrastructure. The main directions of the digital transformation of the national economy include support and stimulation of the development of the IT sector, development of the national digital infrastructure, expansion of the scale of digitization of business, state administration, social sphere and livelihood of the population, as well as the development of digital skills and digital culture of citizens in order to overcome the “digital divide”. It has been proven that digital infrastructure should be considered as an interconnected set of technical and technological means, software, services and processes that ensure the use of IR technologies in all sectors of the economy and spheres of social life. According to the performed functions and tasks, two types of digital infrastructure are distinguished – technical-technological and software-service, which, constantly developing and becoming more complicated, support and complement each other. It was determined that the main criteria for assessing the level of development of digital infrastructure should be compliance with technical, technological, ethical and regulatory standards, systematicity, complexity, transparency, controllability, legitimacy and inclusiveness. The need to ensure effective state regulation, supervision and control over the functioning of the national digital infrastructure as a component of the state’s digital sovereignty has been proven. It was determined that the development of the national digital infrastructure should become a strategic priority of the state, and its main objects should be broadband Internet, 5G mobile communication, the infrastructure of the Internet of Things and cyber security, as well as “Industry 4.0”. It has been proven that in order to combine centralized and decentralized management mechanisms for the processes of formation and development of digital infrastructure, it is necessary to use a system approach that ensures a high level of functionality of all technical and technological components of digital infrastructure, programs and services. The main principles of the introduction and use of the “Industry 4.0” technology and promising sectors of the domestic economy for its implementation are determined. The potential sources and forms of financing the development of the IT sector and the development of IR technologies are characterized.

In the framework of European integration there is a growing interest in the development of border re gions in East Central Europe. This article deals with the problems of regional integration in the German- Polish border region, following an approach that emphasizes the regions' economic organization, in stitutional fabric and sociocultural environment. New economic links between Western European and East-Central European firms do not necessarily lead to a revaluation of the border region or to the formation of transborder integrated economic regions. Instead, there is a tendency towards the de velopment of new economic links which overlook the border region. Up to now, cooperation between regional firms is weak within the border region. The region's sociocultural environment in terms of a 'low trust environment' and a specifically shaped social distance between the neighbouring regions are a fur ther hindrance to regional integration. These findings are being related to strategic options of re gional development policy in the border region.

The purpose of the article is the estimation of the level of development of Polish-Ukrainian transborder regions, provision of an outline of problems and perspectives of their development, and of possible ways of solving such problems. The hypothesis states that the border line, on both the Ukrainian and Polish sides, is a powerful negative factor in the development of border regions. It is particularly visible on the Ukrainian side of the border. In order to delimitate the research area, the criterion of its location on counties (administration areas are named: in Poland — “poviat,” in Ukraine — “raion”) frame was applied. Therefore, for the transborder region, we consider administrative units located directly near the border: 9 counties of the Lubelskie and Podkarpackie voivodships for the Polish side, and 10 counties of 3 transborder regions in Ukraine (Lviv, Volyn, and Zakarpattia). For complex analysis of its development, we selected 9 diagnostic variables of sociodemographic, environmental, and economic development. In order to evaluate the level of development of transborder region, the synthetic index of its development was elaborated (Perkal index). The analysis of the spatial distribution of selected variables showed similarities in the development of Polish-Ukrainian transborder regions by environmental aspect, but significant differences in economic and sociodemographic depictions. In the context of the Perkal index, 4 classes of development of administrative units were elaborated. The worst situation regarding development was observed in the Volodymyr Volynskyi County with a level of development of -0,58. The best situation was observed in the case of the Bieszczadzki County with a level of development of 0,50. According to the authors, greater integration of Ukraine with the European Union, and active policy for activation of transborder regions could contribute to a reduction of differences in development of Polish-Ukrainian border regions.

The issues of the impact of cross-border cooperation on the small and medium enterprise development in border regions are considered in the paper. The main objective of the paper is to show the need for development of cross-border relations between enterprises in border territories to develop the business sector and region in particular, to assess the impact of introducing advanced technologies by small and medium enterprises on the transformation of economies in the border territories. The features of introducing advanced technologies by the business sector in the West Ukrainian border are analyzed. The typing of innovative small and medium enterprises in the Ukrainian border territories is investigated. The conducted research allows realistic assessment of benefits from the introduction of advanced technologies within the border territories for the development of regions and business sectors. The obtained results can be used in making up and implementation of programs for the innovative economy sector development in the West Ukrainian border regions.

Border regions play an important role in the history of the European integration process. On the borders of the “Inner Six”, the first formal cross-border institutions were formed over 55 years ago; they aimed to reduce the weaknesses of border regions in competition with core areas. In the process of historical development, Euroregions cover a significant part of the borders, and not only in Central Europe. The topics of border regions’ development and cross-border cooperation became an important part of European regional policy. In the context of regional policy, financial tools to support border region development were set in the form of individual programmes (CBC PHARE, INTERREG, Phare CREDO, Tacis CBC, CARDS, MEDA, Cil 3, EUS). Czech border regions underwent a fundamental change after joining the European Union in 2004, which applies the four freedoms, including the free movement of people. What is the Czech borderland residents’ reflection on joining the European Union? Residents have not experienced significant changes in living standards in the border regions after joining the European Union; however, the changes for the better outweigh the changes for the worse. Overall, joining the European Union has brought positive changes to the Czech borderland; there are minor differences between its different sections. In terms of the residents’ identity, there are noticeable differences in the identification of the population in the border areas with the concept of a European: there is a significantly higher proportion of identification in neighbouring border regions than in the Czech regions.

This article presents a novel methodological approach to territorial impact assessment in border regions: Dynamical Territorial Impact Assessment (DyTIA). Grounded in dynamical systems theory, DyTIA offers a framework for modelling complex and interdependent relationships between economic, social, environmental, and institutional dimensions of territorial development. In contrast to conventional static methodologies, DyTIA focuses on identifying feedback loops, time lags, threshold effects, and network interactions, thereby enabling a more accurate representation of the dynamic and often non-linear nature of border regions. The methodology was tested using data from the European Court of Auditors covering 23 INTERREG V-A programmes (2014–2020). The analysis revealed significant heterogeneity in funding allocations and thematic priorities across different border regions. Notably, the largest share of funding (23.2%) was directed towards the thematic objective of environmental protection and resource efficiency, highlighting the increasing importance of sustainability within EU cohesion policy. A case study based on the Greater Region programme demonstrated DyTIA’s capacity to uncover complex territorial effect chains and to support optimized resource allocation, especially under the constraints of a projected 18.6% budget reduction in the INTERREG NEXT framework for the 2021–2027 period. Particularly insightful was the analysis of interactions between different thematic objectives, which revealed synergistic effects that enhance overall territorial impact. Beyond its analytical utility, DyTIA also serves a strategic governance function. In the context of Ukraine’s European integration, DyTIA gains relevance as a policy tool for supporting the inclusion of Ukrainian border regions into the European space. The EGTC Tisza is examined as a pilot project for adapting DyTIA to the specific challenges of post-war recovery and EU accession preparation. Based on these findings, the article offers practical recommendations for applying DyTIA in national and regional strategic planning processes, for strengthening the institutional capacity of European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation (EGTCs), and for establishing a network of “territorial development and security laboratories” along Ukraine’s western border. Special attention is given to incorporating the security dimension into territorial impact assessments, in response to emerging geopolitical challenges. Ultimately, DyTIA is not only a methodological innovation but also part of a broader rethinking of how territorial development in border regions is conceptualized and governed. In a time of profound geopolitical changes, dynamic models such as DyTIA are essential for designing effective, sustainable, and inclusive strategies—strategies that contribute to integration and resilience, and help shape a more stable and secure European space, with Ukraine as an integral participant.

Az Írottkő–Geschriebenstein Natúrpark esettanulmányon keresztül – amely az osztrák–magyar határon terül el – megválaszoljuk, hogy a határon átnyúló védett területek milyen mértékben alkalmasak regionális fejlesztésre. A cikk elején a védett területek koncepcióit és lehetséges megközelítéseit mutatjuk be a határon átnyúló összefüggésben. Nemzetközi összehasonlításban is elemezzük a határon átnyúló védett területek fejlődéstörténetét, valamint különleges helyzetüket a Vasfüggöny „kelet– nyugati” határa mentén.Az Írottkő–Geschriebenstein Natúrpark példáján a regionális kormányzás szemléletéből elemezzük a határon átnyúló kooperáció lehetőségeit és korlátait, az Európai Területi Együttműködés keretei között támogatott projektben.Megemlítjük, hogy a határon átnyúló együttműködés tartalmi összefüggésében – mint például a turizmusban – sok egysége jött létre az együttműködésnek. Szintén fontos a kommunikációs és kooperációs feltételeket erősíteni a kétoldalú, határon átnyúló együttműködésben. Az EU-s programok bürokráciája, valamint egyes sikeres modellek kiterjeszthetőségének hiánya a regionális fejlesztésben és együttműködésben továbbra is akadályokat jelent.