The prospects of formation of transboundary agglomeration (On the example of Almetyevsk – Oktyabrsky agglomeration)

Abstract

The goal of this article consists in assessment of possibility of existence of transregional agglomeration between the Republic of Tatarstan and the Republic of Bashkortostan based on evaluation of the criteria of composition of agglomeration. The subject of this research is the composition of the oilfield service polycentric small urban agglomeration Oktyabrsky – Tuymazy located on the territory of the Republic of Bashkortostan, as well as the composition of the Almetyevsk polycentric agglomeration located on the territory of the Republic of Tatarstan, which provisionally includes both indicated agglomerations along with other potential zoned of influence of the largest cities of agglomeration – Almetyevsk and Oktyabrsky. The criteria for delimitation contained economic, integration and geographical. The object of this research is the municipal formation of city district level and municipal districts (8 municipal formations on the part of the Republic of Bashkortostan, and 12 municipal formations on the part of the Republic of Tatarstan). The research covers the period from 2014 to 2018. The conclusion is made that the oilfield service polycentric small urban agglomeration Oktyabrsky – Tuymazy and Almetyevsk polycentric agglomeration, which are formalized  to one or another degree, do not correspond with the classical approaches towards assessment of agglomerativity, as they do not have a balance between functional roles of the core and the periphery of agglomeration. At the same time the strength of economic gravitation of the municipal formations between the Republic of Tatarstan and the Republic of Bashkortostan leads to the establishment of Almetyevsk – Oktyabrsky polycentric transregional agglomeration, which provisionally includes both of the  indicated agglomerations, and which in accordance with the classical parameters for assessing delimitation and agglomeration level can be considered a more developed agglomeration than the initial ones.