Timber Industry Hub as a Form of Spatial Placement of the Soviet Forestry Industry during the First Five-year Plans

Abstract

During the first five-year plans, the forest industry was supposed to be turned into an industrially developed industry. The need to develop the forest resources of the northern and eastern regions, to construct new enterprises led to the intensification of research in the formulation of directions and forms of spatial placement of the forest industry. The experience of the first five-year plans is of great value for the current stage of development of Russia’s forestry industry. The forest industry centers formed in the Soviet period constitute the basis of the spatial framework of the industry, and the topic of the development of new forests is still relevant. Analysis of the materials of the first five-year plans showed that, in addition to the development of forest resources in the northern and eastern regions of the country, the key areas of development of the forest industry were intra- and inter-industry combination and cooperation. The use of cartography methods made it possible to identify promising timber industry centers. Specific forms of spatial placement were formulated by economists and economic geographers. For the forest industry, such a form became a timber-processing hub, where various mechanical processing and deep processing of wood were combined, achieving integrated use of forest resources. I. Kapitonov and S. Slavin identified the main timber industry hubs and complexes for the Soviet North, the most promising macro-region in the development of the forest industry. D. Bogorad showed the peculiarities of the formation of a timber industry hub on the example of the Yenisei hub in Eastern Siberia. The formulation of practical aspects of the placement and creation of timber hubs should be considered a major achievement in the spatial development of the forest industry during the first five-year plans.