Every year, 3,000 settlements disappear in the country.

The scientific and design organization "Southern Urban Planning Center" held a round table in Rostov on the topic "The Shrinking Cities of the South of Russia: Continue to Plan Growth or Be Realists?". The participants in the conversation were the chief architects of cities and districts of the Rostov region, designers and scientists. The journalist of the site went to the round table to find out why Russian cities are shrinking and disappearing, how relevant the problem is for the Rostov region, and whether there are examples of an effective solution to this problem.

Elena Batunova, Chief Project Architect of the Southern Urban Center, presented to the audience a research paper on the problem of shrinking cities. According to her research, the Rostov and Volgograd regions are the most depressive in terms of the reduction of both rural and urban population. At the same time, the Rostov region has not yet exhausted the resources of the rural population, and in the Volgograd region, almost all the villagers have already moved to the cities.

Rostov, Aksai, Bataysk are losing their population. But if for large Rostov the consequences will not be felt soon, then for small towns this is a very serious problem.

- After the collapse of the USSR, Volgodonsk, Gukovo and Novocherkassk also lost in numbers. Now their number is less than it was according to the 1989 census. However, compared to 2002, they "grew up". Maybe they are now declining again, but I rely on official data between censuses,” Elena Batunova said.

The cities of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky are growing (an increase of 28.8% compared to 1989), Mines (8.2%), Novoshakhtinsk (5.2%), Azov (3.4%), Donetsk (3.2%) . Volgodonsk, Gukovo and Novocherkassk. But this is the 2010 census data. It is difficult to say what the situation is today and whether their growth will continue further.

If you look at the table with the data of three censuses, you can count 15 cities in the Rostov region, the population of which is declining: Rostov, Bataysk, Belaya Kalitva, Zverevo, Krasny Sulin, Millerovo, Salsk, Taganrog, Aksai, Zernograd, Konstantinovsk, Morozovsk, Proletarsk, Semikarakorsk, Tsimlyansk .

“How to stop the shrinking of cities is a very difficult question,” Elena Batunova emphasized. — Demographic processes are very inertial in nature. These issues are not resolved at the municipal level, there should be a state and regional policy. It is impossible to assess the effectiveness of certain measures in a short period. At the same time, the demographic situation in Russia and the Rostov region is so unfavorable that it will not be possible to solve problems by increasing the birth rate and reducing mortality. We need a migration policy, the implementation of which is unlikely in the near future. Therefore, the unambiguous solution must be in the reorientation of urban strategies from growth to the quality of the urban environment. People living in a shrinking city should not be deprived of the benefits of city life and the realization that they have a future.

Every year 3,000 settlements disappear in Russia

The term “shrinking cities” itself originated in Germany in 2006, when the first study of the problem was carried out. By the way, then the Russian “city of brides” Ivanovo also got into the list of shrinking cities in the world.

According to Elena Batunova, the problem of shrinking cities began to be discussed in the world quite recently, and in Russia it is practically not raised at all.

Why are cities shrinking? First of all, these are natural demographic processes, when the birth rate decreases in a post-industrial society. Globalization affects both world migration flows and intranational ones - large cities become centers of concentration of resources and pull the population out of adjacent territories, as is happening, for example, in Moscow and the Central Federal District. Also important factors in population decline are climatic, political and special causes associated with disasters. There is also such a factor as suburbanization, but in Russia it is insignificant. But in the US, the dream of having your own country house encourages people to leave the city.

Russian cities, especially in the south, are not yet so acutely aware of these processes due to the low availability of housing and infrastructure.

“And to some extent this can have a positive effect on assessing the effectiveness of local authorities: you can not build anything, people are dying, and the number of housing per capita is growing on its own,” Elena Batunova noted with bitter irony.

Population reduction leads to degradation of the urban environment and infrastructure redundancy. Infrastructure is a network, and it is very difficult to turn off any parts of it. As a result, an additional financial burden falls on consumers. In a shrinking city, the number of labor resources decreases, which reduces investment attractiveness and provokes an increase in the outflow of the population. Social problems are also emerging, such as the aging of the population, which needs completely different services from the urban environment, and the criminality of the situation is growing.

- Without thinking about the future, we are laying the foundation for problems for the future, - said Elena Batunova. - For example, today the generation of the 1980s is in the fertile age, but it is already being replaced by the generation of the 1990s, which is much less numerous. Therefore, there will be no one to go to kindergartens, which we are now building so intensively and which are overcrowded. All demographic forecasts for Russia are negative. There are growing regions, mainly the North Caucasus. The south of Russia is slowly losing population due to its climatic attractiveness. Several oil regions are also growing.

If a couple of years ago, introducing maternity capital and other measures to increase the birth rate, the government of the Russian Federation promoted the image of an ideal family - mom, dad, and two children, today, in order not only to increase, but at least maintain the population of Russia, it is necessary that each The family had three children...

By the way, the demographic programs developed by the state also raise many questions.

Yury Grechko, the chief architect of the Salsky district, said that the program for issuing land to large families in the Rostov region has placed a heavy burden on the districts and cities.

“This is a huge problem, and every architect is now getting hit on the head with a huge sledgehammer for it. But it is possible to move the problem from the spot only in Aksai, because there are huge injections. It is customary to keep silent about this, but today at least a million rubles is needed for one site with infrastructure. Two years ago I had 560 such families. I calculated according to the master plan that I need a huge amount of land, roughly speaking, 100 hectares. I seem to have had enough. Two years have passed, I have allocated 460 land plots, I have 1211 people with many children! How much land do I need then, how to carry out this program? ..

The problem of inconsistency in master plans, in which the population is always calculated with a plus sign, taking into account future growth, is also one of the main scourges today. Given the current realities, it would be worthwhile to focus not on square meters and other quantitative indicators, but on the quality of these meters and the quality of life as such. After all, the fact remains: 23 thousand settlements in Russia have already disappeared after the collapse of the Soviet Union, 3 thousand disappear annually, 80% of small towns are losing population.

- In the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire there was a strong migration policy, a policy for the development of the country. There was a clear idea of ​​​​how the country should look like, which settlements and where should be fixed. Today, of course, the country has no policy of spatial development. Therefore, on the one hand, rather utopian fantasies of architects arise, which do not go anywhere and are not supported by finances, and, on the other hand, strange statements by our government about the closure of 250 single-industry towns. Or about the formation of 20 agglomerations and the closure of the rest of the country. They are also not supported by any calculations, the mechanisms for their implementation are unknown, but nevertheless these ideas constantly arise.

Shrinking cities in the US and Europe are trying to save themselves from extinction

According to Elena Batunova, people in Russia are accustomed to living on the basis of the indisputable axiom that development is necessarily growth. But it is not always the case.

There are three approaches to solving the problem of shrinking cities. The most common model is to ignore the problem and continue planning for growth. The second option is opposition, when local authorities try by all means to either support the birth rate or attract migrants (and some even succeed). The third, very rare option is the adoption and building of a new strategy, taking into account the new conditions.

The most famous example is Detroit, whose population has declined from 1.8 million to 680,000.

Detroit, pics-land.ru

A spokesman for the city of Detroit cited figures that every year they demolish 10,000 residential buildings, and if they continue at this pace for another 10 years, they still won't demolish all the abandoned housing stock. Such a strong reduction in the population was affected not only by the collapse of the automotive industry, but also by suburbanization, Elena Batunova explained.

Various strategies were used to save Detroit: the authorities tried to revive the city center, attract business there, but in the end, all these ideas turned out to be a failure. Today, the main development strategy is the development of urban farming. Master plans are being created to return urban land to agriculture, thus creating new jobs to boost the urban economy.

Another city from the so-called "America's Rust Belt" is Youngstown. Its population dropped from 170,000 inhabitants to 65. It was the first city in the world to create a new development strategy, recognizing that growth should not be expected. Much of the property in Youngstown has been abandoned.

Youngstown, pics4.city-data.com

- In America, cities are independent subjects of the economy, and everyone survives on their own. Here the achievement is that the city authorities were able to amend the federal legislation. Their depreciating land began to be bought by large corporations in the hope of engaging in speculation in the future. Therefore, the city proposed the creation of state land banks: the state temporarily takes vacant land to use later. They also proposed the so-called policy of small deeds. The point was to create normal living conditions for those people who remain in Youngstone so that they do not live in a ruined city that no one needs. Therefore, small projects for the transformation of territories were proposed, which could be implemented by the residents themselves. For example, the arrangement of abandoned buildings for new purposes. All this supports life in the city, but the population continues to decline,” said Elena Batunova.

An example of the fact that sometimes the situation can be reversed dramatically is Dresden. Germany has very strong federal support for cities, and another feature is that the multi-family housing stock is mostly owned by the state. Therefore, when the population of the city began to decline rapidly, it did not become a problem for the authorities to relocate citizens more densely, and to demolish empty houses. Big money was allocated for this. The remaining houses were put in order, and the areas around were landscaped and landscaped. The development strategy of Dresden was focused on reducing the population, but unexpectedly, after such events, people began to come to the city again and it turned from a shrinking city into a growing one.

The meeting of the round table participants was more of an introductory nature: it is unlikely that such a serious problem can be solved in one meeting. However, architects, developers and scientists got to know each other, exchanged information and contacts. It was decided to hold such meetings regularly in order to jointly develop steps to reduce such risks for the cities of the Rostov region.

Rostov-on-Don is one of the largest cities in the south of the Russian Federation, which is the administrative center of the Southern Federal District and the Rostov Region. It is located in the southeast of the East European Plain, 46 km from the confluence of the Don River into the Sea of ​​Azov, 1192 km south of Moscow. The geographical border between Europe and Asia passes through the city, the southern part of the left bank of the Don is Asia, the northern part of the right bank is Europe.

This is a large administrative, scientific, educational, industrial, cultural center and an important transport hub of the entire South of Russia, unofficially called the "gates of the Caucasus", "the southern capital, the capital of the Don, there is such a fairly common concept as "Rostov-Papa".

Founding history

The official founding date is December 1749, when the daughter of Peter I, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, gave a decree to establish the Temernitsky customs, which was originally supposed to be built in the city of Cherkessk, but at the request of the Don Cossacks, who were losing their duty benefits, by the greatest order, it was transferred to the mouth of the river Temernik, upstream of the Don. In 1750, the territory of the customs house was built up with a harbor, a warehouse (warehouse), quarantine and a garrison barracks that appeared there. In 1756, after the founding of a large international trading company, the Russian and Constantinople Trading Company, the port of Temernitsa began to be considered the only Russian port in the southern part of the Russian state that had trade relations with countries located on the coast of the Black, Aegean and Mediterranean Seas.

In 1761, the construction of a fortress began to protect against the raids of the Crimean Horde. After its completion, the fortress with a garrison for four thousand soldiers was named by the ruling tsarina Elizaveta Petrovna in honor of Metropolitan Dimitry of Rostov and Yaroslavl, who was canonized by the church just at that time. Gradually, the name changed, at first it was the fortress of Dimitry of Rostov, the Rostov fortress, and finally became Rostov, the prefix on the Don appeared to distinguish it from the ancient city of Rostov the Great, which is near Yaroslavl. Rostov port city quickly became known both in Russia and abroad, attracting a huge number of merchants and merchants. In addition to the 4,000-strong garrison of soldiers, about a thousand more settlers lived around the fortress; up to three thousand people from nearby Ukrainian villages came to work in the port every day, which formed villages and farms around the city.

The fortress, manned by a large garrison and 238 military guns, was used for a long time as a rear base for Russian troops and played an important role in the events of the Russian-Turkish wars in the middle of the 18th century. Later, the fortress lost its important strategic importance and was torn down, its territory became part of the city, which received the status of a county, first Novorossiysk, then Yekaterinoslav province. The favorable location of the city at the crossroads of trade routes from Europe to Asia contributed to the development of trade there and the overall economic recovery. In 100 years after its founding in 1846, more than 15 thousand years have already lived there, in another 100 years - about 110 thousand.

(Cathedral lane in modern times)

During the civil war of 1917-1920. Rostov housed the center of the White Guard movement, which was destroyed by Budyonny's cavalry in 1920. During the Second World War, the city was twice occupied by the Germans, liberated in November 1942, was heavily destroyed and entered the top ten cities of the USSR most affected during the hostilities. In the post-war years, it was restored and restored, old buildings and structures were rebuilt, new ones were erected.

Population of Rostov-on-Don

Despite the economic crisis that engulfed most of the cities of Russia, after the collapse of the USSR, Rostov entered the top ten of the country in terms of population and continues to develop, becoming a major regional center and in 2000 the center of the Southern Federal District of the Russian Federation.

As of 2017, the population in Rostov-on-Don is 1125299 people, this is the tenth place among 1112 cities in Russia, the first in the Southern Federal District and in the Rostov region. The increase in natural growth, respectively, and the number of population began in 2009, when the population was 1048991 people, in eight seven years it increased by 76 thousand people, which indicates an improvement in the demographic situation in the region, which continues now.

The Rostov agglomeration has 2.16 million people, the Rostov-Shakhtniskaya conurbation (an agglomeration of a polycentric type with several cores without a dominant center) - 2.7 million people.

Rostov is a city with a multinational composition, 90.1% of Russians (960.8 thousand people), 3.4% of Armenians (41.5 thousand people), 1.5% of Ukrainians (16.2 thousand people) live here .), less than 1% - Azerbaijanis, Tatars, Georgians, Belarusians, Koreans, Jews, Lezgins, Chechens, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, etc.

The number of able-bodied population is 692 thousand people, which is 63.2%, children under 15 years old - 13.1%, people of pre-retirement age - 23.7%. The gender structure is dominated by women - 54.4%, men - 45.6%.

According to 2016 data, the migration increase in Rostov-on-Don amounted to 3.7 thousand people, which exceeds the figures of the previous year by almost 4 times, the number of people who left for other regions amounted to more than 5,000 thousand people. The most active exchange takes place with the Kuban (Krasnodar Territory), 23.3% of the population of the Rostov Region went there, and 19.3% of the local population from there.

Industry of Rostov-on-Don

(Rostvertol, Mi-24)

Rostov-on-Don is one of the largest developed economic and industrial centers in the south of Russia and throughout the Russian Federation. Half of the entire trade turnover of the Rostov region falls on this city, the volume of industrial production of large and medium-sized enterprises is more than 30 billion rubles a year, the growth rate of industrial production is constantly growing and becoming more stable every year.

(Assembly line of RostSelMash plant)

The largest enterprises in the city are:

• Rostselmash is the largest manufacturer of agricultural machinery and equipment not only in Russia, but throughout the world. Its products (harvesters, seeders, etc.) cover 60% of the Russian market;
• Rostvertol is the largest aircraft manufacturer, part of the Russian Helicopters holding of the state corporation Rostec;
• The factory "Donskoy Tabak" is one of the largest manufacturers of tobacco products in Russia;
• JSC "Gorizon" - production of navigational radar systems for civil and military ships;

(Factory of carpets and carpets Merino)

• Plant "Kvant" - production of equipment for the orientation of space equipment;
• OJSC "Almaz" - production of radio equipment.
• CJSC "Empils" is the largest manufacturer of paints and varnishes in Russia.
• Spinning factory "Merino"

Culture of Rostov-on-Don

The centers of cultural life of any city are its museums and theaters. In Rostov-on-Don, museums such as the Rostov Regional Museum of Local Lore, the Rostov Regional Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of Modern Fine Arts, the Museum of Russian-Armenian Friendship, the Rostov Museum of Railway Engineering, the Gallery of Children's Artistic Creativity, the Rostov Museum of Cosmonautics and others open their doors to visitors .

Also for residents and guests of the city there are several theaters: the Rostov Academic Drama Theater named after. M. Gorky, Rostov State Puppet Theatre, Rostov Regional Academic Youth Theatre, Rostov State Musical Theatre.

The Rostov film studio was opened here in 1927 to create documentaries and film magazines.

There are 43 libraries in the city, the largest of them are the Don State Public Library, founded in the 80s of the 19th century, the central city children's library named after. Lenin.

The Rostov Zoo has the largest collection of anthropoid apes in Russia, the Amur tiger and the Far Eastern leopard, the unique bearded goat of the Caucasian subspecies, the only such animal kept in the zoo.

The city also has its own philharmonic society, a circus, several exhibition halls and galleries, such festivals and biennials (cultural events held every two years) as the South Russian Biennale of Contemporary Art, the international festival "Acardeon plus", the festival of jazz music " Jazz a la Rostov”, “Rostov jazz invites”.

The scientific and design organization "Southern Urban Planning Center" held a round table in Rostov on the topic "The Shrinking Cities of the South of Russia: Continue to Plan Growth or Be Realists?". The participants in the conversation were the chief architects of cities and districts of the Rostov region, designers and scientists. The donnews.ru journalist went to the round table to find out why Russian cities are shrinking and disappearing, how urgent the problem is for the Rostov region, and whether there are examples of an effective solution to this problem.

Elena Batunova, Chief Project Architect of the Southern Urban Center, presented to the audience a research paper on the problem of shrinking cities. According to her research, the Rostov and Volgograd regions are the most depressive in terms of the reduction of both rural and urban population. At the same time, the Rostov region has not yet exhausted the resources of the rural population, and in the Volgograd region, almost all the villagers have already moved to the cities.

Rostov, Aksai, Bataysk are losing their population. But if for large Rostov the consequences will not be felt soon, then for small towns this is a very serious problem.

- After the collapse of the USSR, Volgodonsk, Gukovo and Novocherkassk also lost in numbers. Now their number is less than it was according to the 1989 census. However, compared to 2002, they "grew up". Maybe they are now declining again, but I rely on official data between censuses,” Elena Batunova said.

The cities of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky are growing (an increase of 28.8% compared to 1989), Mines (8.2%), Novoshakhtinsk (5.2%), Azov (3.4%), Donetsk (3.2%) . Volgodonsk, Gukovo and Novocherkassk. But this is the 2010 census data. It is difficult to say what the situation is today and whether their growth will continue further.

If you look at the table with the data of three censuses, you can count 15 cities in the Rostov region, the population of which is declining: Rostov, Bataysk, Belaya Kalitva, Zverevo, Krasny Sulin, Millerovo, Salsk, Taganrog, Aksai, Zernograd, Konstantinovsk, Morozovsk, Proletarsk, Semikarakorsk, Tsimlyansk .

“How to stop the shrinking of cities is a very difficult question,” Elena Batunova emphasized. — Demographic processes are very inertial in nature. These issues are not resolved at the municipal level, there should be a state and regional policy. It is impossible to assess the effectiveness of certain measures in a short period. At the same time, the demographic situation in Russia and the Rostov region is so unfavorable that it will not be possible to solve problems by increasing the birth rate and reducing mortality. We need a migration policy, the implementation of which is unlikely in the near future. Therefore, the unambiguous solution must be in the reorientation of urban strategies from growth to the quality of the urban environment. People living in a shrinking city should not be deprived of the benefits of city life and the realization that they have a future.

Every year 3,000 settlements disappear in Russia

The term “shrinking cities” itself originated in Germany in 2006, when the first study of the problem was carried out. By the way, then the Russian “city of brides” Ivanovo also got into the list of shrinking cities in the world.

According to Elena Batunova, the problem of shrinking cities began to be discussed in the world quite recently, and in Russia it is practically not raised at all.

Why are cities shrinking? First of all, these are natural demographic processes, when the birth rate decreases in a post-industrial society. Globalization affects both world migration flows and intranational ones - large cities become centers of concentration of resources and pull the population out of adjacent territories, as is happening, for example, in Moscow and the Central Federal District. Also important factors in population decline are climatic, political and special causes associated with disasters. There is also such a factor as suburbanization, but in Russia it is insignificant. But in the US, the dream of having your own country house encourages people to leave the city.

Russian cities, especially in the south, are not yet so acutely aware of these processes due to the low availability of housing and infrastructure.

“And to some extent this can have a positive effect on assessing the effectiveness of local authorities: you can not build anything, people are dying, and the number of housing per capita is growing on its own,” Elena Batunova noted with bitter irony.

Population reduction leads to degradation of the urban environment and infrastructure redundancy. Infrastructure is a network, and it is very difficult to turn off any parts of it. As a result, an additional financial burden falls on consumers. In a shrinking city, the number of labor resources decreases, which reduces investment attractiveness and provokes an increase in the outflow of the population. Social problems are also emerging, such as the aging of the population, which needs completely different services from the urban environment, and the criminality of the situation is growing.

- Without thinking about the future, we are laying the foundation for problems for the future, - said Elena Batunova. - For example, today the generation of the 1980s is in the fertile age, but it is already being replaced by the generation of the 1990s, which is much less numerous. Therefore, there will be no one to go to kindergartens, which we are now building so intensively and which are overcrowded. All demographic forecasts for Russia are negative. There are growing regions, mainly the North Caucasus. The south of Russia is slowly losing population due to its climatic attractiveness. Several oil regions are also growing.

If a couple of years ago, introducing maternity capital and other measures to increase the birth rate, the government of the Russian Federation promoted the image of an ideal family - mom, dad, and two children, today, in order not only to increase, but at least maintain the population of Russia, it is necessary that each The family had three children...

By the way, the demographic programs developed by the state also raise many questions.

Yury Grechko, the chief architect of the Salsky district, said that the program for issuing land to large families in the Rostov region has placed a heavy burden on the districts and cities.

“This is a huge problem, and every architect is now getting hit on the head with a huge sledgehammer for it. But it is possible to move the problem from the spot only in Aksai, because there are huge injections. It is customary to keep silent about this, but today at least a million rubles is needed for one site with infrastructure. Two years ago I had 560 such families. I calculated according to the master plan that I need a huge amount of land, roughly speaking, 100 hectares. I seem to have had enough. Two years have passed, I have allocated 460 land plots, I have 1211 people with many children! How much land do I need then, how to carry out this program? ..

The problem of inconsistency in master plans, in which the population is always calculated with a plus sign, taking into account future growth, is also one of the main scourges today. Given the current realities, it would be worthwhile to focus not on square meters and other quantitative indicators, but on the quality of these meters and the quality of life as such. After all, the fact remains: 23 thousand settlements in Russia have already disappeared after the collapse of the Soviet Union, 3 thousand disappear annually, 80% of small towns are losing population.

- In the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire there was a strong migration policy, a policy for the development of the country. There was a clear idea of ​​​​how the country should look like, which settlements and where should be fixed. Today, of course, the country has no policy of spatial development. Therefore, on the one hand, rather utopian fantasies of architects arise, which do not go anywhere and are not supported by finances, and, on the other hand, strange statements by our government about the closure of 250 single-industry towns. Or about the formation of 20 agglomerations and the closure of the rest of the country. They are also not supported by any calculations, the mechanisms for their implementation are unknown, but nevertheless these ideas constantly arise.

Shrinking cities in the US and Europe are trying to save themselves from extinction

According to Elena Batunova, people in Russia are accustomed to living on the basis of the indisputable axiom that development is necessarily growth. But it is not always the case.

There are three approaches to solving the problem of shrinking cities. The most common model is to ignore the problem and continue planning for growth. The second option is opposition, when local authorities try by all means to either support the birth rate or attract migrants (and some even succeed). The third, very rare option is the adoption and building of a new strategy, taking into account the new conditions.

The most famous example is Detroit, whose population has declined from 1.8 million to 680,000.

Detroit, pics-land.ru

A spokesman for the city of Detroit cited figures that every year they demolish 10,000 residential buildings, and if they continue at this pace for another 10 years, they still won't demolish all the abandoned housing stock. Such a strong reduction in the population was affected not only by the collapse of the automotive industry, but also by suburbanization, Elena Batunova explained.

Various strategies were used to save Detroit: the authorities tried to revive the city center, attract business there, but in the end, all these ideas turned out to be a failure. Today, the main development strategy is the development of urban farming. Master plans are being created to return urban land to agriculture, thus creating new jobs to boost the urban economy.

Another city from the so-called "America's Rust Belt" is Youngstown. Its population dropped from 170,000 inhabitants to 65. It was the first city in the world to create a new development strategy, recognizing that growth should not be expected. Much of the property in Youngstown has been abandoned.

Youngstown, pics4.city-data.com

- In America, cities are independent subjects of the economy, and everyone survives on their own. Here the achievement is that the city authorities were able to amend the federal legislation. Their depreciating land began to be bought by large corporations in the hope of engaging in speculation in the future. Therefore, the city proposed the creation of state land banks: the state temporarily takes vacant land to use later. They also proposed the so-called policy of small deeds. The point was to create normal living conditions for those people who remain in Youngstone so that they do not live in a ruined city that no one needs. Therefore, small projects for the transformation of territories were proposed, which could be implemented by the residents themselves. For example, the arrangement of abandoned buildings for new purposes. All this supports life in the city, but the population continues to decline,” said Elena Baturina.

An example of the fact that sometimes the situation can be reversed dramatically is Dresden. Germany has very strong federal support for cities, and another feature is that the multi-family housing stock is mostly owned by the state. Therefore, when the population of the city began to decline rapidly, it did not become a problem for the authorities to relocate citizens more densely, and to demolish empty houses. Big money was allocated for this. The remaining houses were put in order, and the areas around were landscaped and landscaped. The development strategy of Dresden was focused on reducing the population, but unexpectedly, after such events, people began to come to the city again and it turned from a shrinking city into a growing one.

The meeting of the round table participants was more of an introductory nature: it is unlikely that such a serious problem can be solved in one meeting. However, architects, developers and scientists got to know each other, exchanged information and contacts. It was decided to hold such meetings regularly in order to jointly develop steps to reduce such risks for the cities of the Rostov region.

At the moment, there are approximately one thousand one hundred cities in our country. They are scattered over all the expanses of our vast country, but still more concentrated in central Russia. Sociologists attribute this to the fact that cities located in economically prosperous areas, which include the regions of the middle zone, are the most attractive for living. We decided to tell you about two cities with similar names, but completely different history and population. Have you already guessed what will be discussed? Of course, our article is dedicated to Rostov and Rostov-on-Don - these two magnificent cities, which are real gems in the placer of Russian cities.

Rostov: general characteristics

Rostov is one of the most ancient cities on the territory of our country, it has a very difficult past and no less interesting present. After all, it is not for nothing that it is referred to the most beautiful and vibrant cities of central Russia.

The first mentions of the city in the annals date back to the ninth century, but historians believe that this date is not really reliable and Rostov existed long before this figure. After all, its first inhabitants were not Slavs at all.

At the moment, the population of Rostov is growing steadily. Every year the city becomes more and more attractive and comfortable for living. According to analysts, the quality of life that the population of Rostov has is 15% higher than the average level in Russia.

Location and description of Rostov

Rostov is located only fifty kilometers from Yaroslavl and is located on the shores of Lake Nero. This is the largest freshwater lake in the region. Archaeologists and historians claim that it was inhabited by people already six thousand years ago and the Slavs came here to fully formed settlements and settlements. In the future, the lake was often called Rostov, in honor of the city itself.

The ancient history of Rostov is reflected in a large number of historical monuments. They allowed the city to be included in the list of the country's cultural heritage. The people of Rostov are very proud of the fact that their hometown is a mandatory stop on the itinerary of the so-called Golden Ring of Russia.

Today in Rostov there are more than one hundred and fifty monuments of federal significance. In addition to them, the population of Rostov can tell you about another two hundred places permeated with history and related to the cultural monuments of the city. It is worth visiting Rostov even for its extraordinary beauty, which combines old mansions with modern buildings. Moreover, all the innovations do not spoil the appearance of the city at all, they successfully fit into the existing plan and complement the old facades of houses and churches.

Rostov the Great: a brief historical background

Analysts' data allow us to state that Rostov is basically a mono-ethnic city. But few people know that this tradition did not always exist. We have already said that the Merya tribes lived on the shores of the lake, who reacted very favorably to the arrival of the Eastern Slavs on their lands. Moreover, many archaeologists claim that Rostov was literally a city divided into two parts. Slavs settled in one, and the other was given to the indigenous peoples. Moreover, the inhabitants of the city lived very peacefully, despite religious differences. The Slavs, who were Christians, built churches in their part of Rostov and did not impose their beliefs on the pagan tribes.

Over time, many other tribes began to flock to Rostov for permanent residence. The population has become even more diverse, but never in the history of the city has there been inter-ethnic strife. This helped to form a single component of the city - Rostovites, who are able to unite and coexist peacefully on the same territory.

Population

Rostov is a rather surprising picture for residents of large metropolitan areas. After all, even the population growth over the past five years has not brought the city to a new level. According to sociologists, at the end of 2016, 30,943 people live in Rostov. This figure is stable, and population fluctuations are mainly caused by an increase in the birth rate and a decrease in mortality in the city.

In addition, the average life expectancy in Rostov is 75 years, which is much higher than the national average. This fact is associated with a good ecological situation and the absence of large industrial enterprises in the city.

Population density and ethnic composition

At the moment, the inhabitants of Rostov are represented mainly by Russians. They make up over 95% of the city's population. The remaining 5% were almost evenly distributed among the nations that came here from other regions of Russia. They do not constitute a static value, so they are rarely taken into account in official data.

The population density is 1,970 people per square kilometer, which is very average for the country among cities with a population of less than one hundred thousand people.

"Southern capital of Russia": general characteristics

In the south of our country, Rostov-on-Don is one of the largest and most beautiful cities. Now it is rightfully considered a city of a million people. A has been leading official history since the middle of the eighteenth century, and throughout its existence has repeatedly appeared in a heroic light.

Now the city is the cultural, historical and administrative center of the southern region. It is simply impossible to come to Rostov-on-Don and remain indifferent to it. The city captivates literally at first sight. Moreover, every year it becomes more beautiful and comfortable. Six years ago, Rostov was ranked fifth in the ranking of cities with a high quality of the urban environment. The population of this wonderful metropolis is proud not only of the heroic past of their city, but also of its present, filled with brilliant prospects.

For example, next year it is this city that will host the World Cup. And this means that in the near future Rostov-on-Don will become even more beautiful and will receive a powerful impetus for further development.

City location

Rostov-on-Don and Moscow are separated by more than one thousand kilometers, the handsome city is spread on the banks of the Don River, in the utmost proximity to the Sea of ​​Azov. Residents of the city in the summer season on weekends easily overcome the forty kilometers that separate the city from the sea coast.

The history of the city

On the territory of modern Rostov, archaeologists have found the remains of settlements of ancient people dating back as far as three thousand years BC. But the official history of the settlement dates back to the time of Peter I. The Russian autocrat during the Azov campaigns of the seventeenth century appreciated the strategic importance of these territories. He wished to build a fortress here to protect the Russian lands from the raids of the Turks and Tatars, but for certain foreign policy reasons he could not do this.

Therefore, Rostovites consider December 1749 as the date of foundation of the city. At this time, Empress Elizabeth issued a decree on the creation of the Temernitsky customs, which, by the will of fate, was built on the site of today's metropolis.

Rostov-on-Don: population

As we have already specified, it has been a million-plus city for many years. To be more specific, we can say that already in the eighties of the last century, Rostov-on-Don crossed the line of one million inhabitants and officially fell into the ranks of special megacities.

At the moment, the population of Rostov-on-Don is 1,125,103 people. An impressive number, isn't it? According to the indicator, the city ranks tenth in the country, behind the recognized leaders of Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as several other cities. Sociologists believe that if population growth does not stop, then in fifteen years Rostov will be in the top five cities on this list. In Europe, this Russian city occupies the thirtieth place in terms of the number of inhabitants.

It is worth clarifying that the figure characterizing the population of Rostov-on-Don is more than 20% of all residents of the region. We can say that every fifth person in the region lives in this metropolis. Many analysts attribute this to the abundance of jobs, because quite often people move here from villages and nearby small towns in search of a better life. Be that as it may, the city fully justifies its title of "the southern capital of Russia".

Population density of Rostov-on-Don

Naturally, each major metropolis has a fairly high density of its inhabitants. This fully reflects Rostov. The city's population has a density of 3,198 people per square kilometer. These indicators exceed the average figures for Russia.

The ethnic composition of the inhabitants of the city

In recent years, official statistics do not reflect the real ethnic composition of the population. In analyst reports, it looks like this:

• 93% of the inhabitants are Russians;
• three and a half percent of the population identify themselves as Armenians;
• Ukrainians in the city are about 1.5%;
• Azerbaijanis in Rostov are no more than 0.6%;
• Tatars make up approximately 0.5% of the city's population.

In addition to the nations already listed, Jews, Koreans, Belarusians and Georgians live in the metropolis. All these data are provided by official statistics, but in reality, Rostov is not so simple.

The population of the city is a more colorful "carpet" of nations and nationalities. In the last census, many of its inhabitants were given the opportunity to indicate such a nationality as "Cossack". According to the residents of Rostov-on-Don, there are more than twenty percent of such people in the metropolis. According to alternative data, the ethnic composition can be represented as the following data:

• Russians - 90.1%;
• Armenians - 3.4%;
• Ukrainians - 1.5%;
• Azerbaijanis - 0.6%;
• Tatars - 0.5%;
• Georgians - 0.4%;
• Belarusians and Koreans by 0.3%;
• Jews and Lezgins 0.2% each;
• 0.1% of the total population are Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Chechens, Ossetians, Ingush, Greeks, Gypsies and Tajiks;
• 1.7% of city residents identified themselves as other nationalities.

Most of the population of Rostov-on-Don are women.

As we have seen, Rostov and Rostov-on-Don are completely different cities, radically different from each other. One of them can be attributed to the provincial pearls in the "Golden Ring of Russia", and the other is a real center of life and was formed under the influence of a multinational culture. But keep in mind that each of these cities is worth a visit. After all, they have an ancient history and incredible beauty that attracts Russians to them.

The Rostov region is a very important region of the Russian Federation both in strategic terms and in the extraction of all kinds of raw materials and energy resources. The region itself is small, its area is only about 100 thousand km2. There are 23 cities in this region, each of which has its own history and the main processing, manufacturing or mining resource.

Below are the lists of cities in the Rostov region, divided by the main economic, demographic, social and energy parameters.

Social and demographic status

The Rostov region, according to Rosstat, is a promising region for the life of the population. Therefore, in general, the demographic and migration situation in many cities of this subject is constantly growing. But not in all.

This list of cities in the Rostov region contains 5 settlements with the best indicators related to the quality of life of the population, healthcare, education and other socially significant parameters that affect the standard of living.

1. G. Aksai. The city itself and the entire Aksai district ranks first in the ratings of the best districts in many economic and social parameters. This is the best district of the region in terms of promising development.
2. G. Rostov-on-Don. Not surprisingly, the capital of the region has the best indicators in terms of living standards and demographics. The city has the highest population growth, the highest average wage rate, and the largest birth rate. Although, according to Rosstat, in the overall ranking of districts of the region, Rostov-on-Don occupies only the third position (after Aksai and Myasnikovsky districts), it ranks first among urban settlements.
3. G. Taganrog. Although this small town is inferior in demographic and migration indicators to the center of the region, the level of access to education and employment of the population throughout the region is very high.
4. G. Volgodonsk. In economic terms, this city is very important. Plants of various directions operate in it, as well as the Volgodonsk nuclear power plant is located on the Tsimlyansk reservoir. All these production facilities provide many jobs and high wages. Therefore, both social indicators and the entire infrastructure in general in Volgodonsk are at the proper level.
5. G. Azov. Located next to the Sea of ​​Azov on the left bank of the Don River, it has a strategically important position and is constantly developing.

Coal mining

The Rostov region is undoubtedly one of the main coal mining regions. Although most of the mines in the region have recently closed, the Russian government still allocates part of the budget for the restoration and maintenance of the main mining areas of the region.

Here is a list of cities in the Rostov region that currently produce such an energy-important resource as coal:

• city ​​of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky;
• the city of Shakhty;
• city ​​of Belaya Kalitva;
• Donetsk;
• the city of Gukovo;
• Novoshakhtinsk.

Population

In total, more than four million people live in the region. In the list of cities in the Rostov region in terms of population, the center of the region itself, the city of Rostov-on-Don, comes first, of course. For 2017, 1200 thousand people live in it, and their number is constantly growing, as the whole city is developing. The rest of the districts and cities are much inferior in the number of people.

Below is a list of cities in the Rostov region with the largest number of inhabitants:

1. Rostov-on-Don (about 1200 thousand people);
2. Taganrog (for 2015 - 254,783 people);
3. City of Shakhty (for 2015 - 237,568 people);
4. City of Novocherkassk (173,140 people);
5. City of Volgodonsk (170,126 people);
6. Novoshakhtinsk (110,122 people);
7. City of Bataysk (115,696 people).

The Rostov region begins to develop at an ever-increasing pace. Coal mining, production of various types of raw materials makes the region very promising for the life and migration of citizens.