On a Study of Regional Problem in the USSR

Abstract

Soviet statistical data and studies on the levels of regional economic development present that interregional differences in national income per capita of major economic region are more than two fold. But these data do not perfectly reflect the levels of living of the peoples in each region, because data of major economic regions of the R.S.F.S.R. and Ykraina were estimated by incomplete sources and did not estimate social infrastructure which closely relate to the living conditions of regional inhabitants. This is also proved by studies from point of view of interregional population flow and the settlement network. Especially, lasting outflow of inhabitant in the Ural where is ranked as one of regions with high levels of economic development and inflow of population in the North Caucasus where is ranked in low level show that above mentioned factors were not considered.
In the USSR, one sided population movement among major economic regions, especially, movement from eastern part of the USSR (Ural, Siberia) to western part, often explains by way of the regional differrences in climatic conditions. But in addition to this, it is ovbious that the development city network in region plays an important part to settle the inhabitant of region, because in the USSR, major economic regions in which large cities don't develop except the central city as administrative center, usually have outflow of population. From this point, creation of central town in subareas of major economic region will be nessesary to settle regional people, above all, in Ural and Siberia.
In the Soviet Union, though the policy of limmiting growth of large towns has adoptted, the population concentration to regional central city is remarkable, especially, in millionaire cities as Moscaw, Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk and the disparity of regional development in regions in which these cities are located (insufficient development of central town in subareas, medium and small towns, appearence of many aears with outflow of population) have brought about the bad influences on regional economic growth and the living conditions of people. These phenomena, I suppose, were raised by the reinforcement of centralized administration and the insufficient accumulation of social infrastructure. After this, population concentration to large towns will still proceed, if the Soviet government does not drive forward the policy of dispersion of administrative, social and cultural functions in large cities (dispersion of the industrial function to medium and small towns being planned) and perfecting the settlement system.