The Cluster Approach in Russian Urban Studies

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The article is devoted to one of the promi­sing approaches to description and design of mo­dern social and cultural processes — the cluster model, which takes into account both the processes of rea­lity defragmentation and the ways of its situational unification. The article shows the current directions of the cultural and philosophical research of cluster identity, new forms of communication and social interaction. The authors note that, at the forefront of the modern scientific and practical discussions, there are economic opportunities of the cluster system (the ability of cluster structures to self-regulation and complication of the relationships between subjects). The sources of the cluster discourse, on which the modern cluster policy of Saint Petersburg is based, are revealed. On the basis of official modern and historical documents, the article considers the capability and prospects of this approach in urban planning and rationalization of urban and regional development. By the example of Aviagorodok cluster, which began its development in Leningrad in the 1930s, the article demonstrates the lack of grounds for recognition of the economic approach to clustering adopted by the modern government as an innovative concept of development. At the same time, the reconstruction of the eighty-year history of the St. Petersburg air hub development demonstrates that the cluster approach (as a means of polycentric territorial and functional organization) has proved its feasibility and viability in the changing conditions of urban development. The authors conclude that the current official adoption and promotion of the cluster approach in urban planning requires an appropriate theoretical understan­ding, a cultural examination of the permissible ranges for the rationalization of urban environment improvement, as well as a cultural and philosophical analysis of the ability of clusters to form and develop new social and cultural syntheses.