Structural Characteristics of Urban Agglomerations: A Case of Russia and Europe

Abstract

This paper focuses on identifying the structural and institutional characteristics in the economic systems of the urban agglomerations in Russia and Europe. The research is based on the comparative analysis that characterize the share of specific sectors in the total labour force. We present and test an approach to conducting a structural analysis of urban agglomerations economy which approach allows comparing data accumulated by statistical services, each of which has its own organizational principles. Our results show that there are quite significant differences in the structural economic and institutional characteristics of European and Russian agglomerations economies. The share of the industrial sector in the economy of Russian settlement systems appears to be significantly higher compared to that in Europe. The exceptions from this case are the Moscow and partly Saint Petersburg agglomerations that yield the economic structures like those observed in Europe. On the contrary, the trajectories and scales of structural changes in the European and Russian agglomerations are almost identical: the share of service industries in the economies is growing, while in the case of Russia these shifts slightly outstrip the transformation rate in Europe. Our findings can be used by the relevant stakeholders, policymakers, and academics for identifying the specificities of the economic structure of various territorial systems at the local level (e.g. municipalities and urban agglomerations) as well as for developing tools and institutional blueprints for successful territorial policies.