The role of coastal agglomerations and cities in the innovation space of the European part of Russia

Abstract

The article presents a typology of seaside agglomerations and cities of the European part of Russia as generators of innovative processes. A number of typical features for 10 coastal agglomerations were considered and substantiated as the transformational elements of the innovation space, including — quantitative, qualitative, strategic management innovations, operational innovations and emulation policies. At present, urban agglomerations and cities in the European part of Russia are strategically important poles of national economic development, primarily due to the tourism, world economic, transport and logistics, trade and distribution, and industrial components. However, unlike similar agglomerations of foreign countries, for Russian agglomerations the role of these urban agglomerations as a transformational element of the innovation space is not fully obvious and understandable. On the basis of scoring, coastal cities and agglomerations of European Russia were divided into 4 groups: «cities — generators», «cities — beginner generators», «cities with the potential to generate innovative processes» and «cities with weak potential». It turned out that it is through strategic innovations (support institutions, technological environment, and agent-operators) that cities launch innovative processes. At the same time, not only the largest cities, but also individual regional centers, integrated into regional development programs and actively forcing the transition to the “smart city” platform, have great potential.