Transport Accessibility and the Way of Life of the Population in the North: A Case Study of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic

Abstract

We examine the issues concerning the perception and transformation of transport accessibility in interrelatedness and interdependency with the different ways of life: nomadic, rural and urban. The analysis used data of field investigations obtained by these authors in 2017 in Yakutsk, and during 2009–2017 in Aldan and in the Verkhnekolymskii, Nizhnekolymskii, Neryungrinskii, Olenekskii and Srednekolymskii uluses (districts). The study revealed transformations of transport accessibility caused by socio-economic and climatic changes: in spite of an intense development of the transport infrastructure, the duration of the winter roads is becoming shorter and less predictable, and the conditions of the water and air transport infrastructure remain critical. The characteristics of perception and transformation of transport accessibility are illustrated by the example of hunters and reindeer herders, residents of the village of Berezovka and of the city of Yakutsk. It is pointed out that representatives of the nomadic population are less vulnerable to socio-economic changes but more are dependent on natural conditions. It is found that the main problems in Berezovka are associated with periodic floods which are aggravated by limited transport accessibility. Yakutsk has lower transport accessibility compared to the other regional centers but higher accessibility than the other settlements within the region and in the perception of local residents. As a result, it is concluded that, depending on the way of life and experience of the interaction of the local communities with the outside world, the problems of limited transport accessibility are perceived and experienced differently. Thus the relativity of the concept of transport accessibility and the need for further research into its perception and relationship with the way of life of the population is demonstrated.