| In the section | Articles |
| Title of the article | Key Settlements in New Strategy of Russia’s Spatial Development: Regional Functions |
| Pages | 7-34 |
| Author | Viktor Ivanovich Blanutsa Doctor of Sciences (Geography), Leading Researcher Sochava Institute of Geography SB RAS 1 Ulan-Batarskaya St., Irkutsk, 664033, Russian Federation This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ORCID: 0000-0003-3958-216X |
| Abstract | The Government of the Russian Federation and the regional authorities have agreed on a list of 2,160 key settlements, the socio-economic development of which will receive state support until 2030, with a possible extension until 2036. Each such settlement has its main function in Russia’s spatial development. There are 16 identified functions. In our study, they are referred to as settlement functions. However, the role of each Russian region in this versatility is not entirely clear. Therefore, a study was conducted to identify regional functions. It was proposed to assess the role of a region in spatial development based on three aspects: significance, contrast, and diversity. To assess the importance of a region in a particular function, an index was used that shows the ratio of the region’s share in that function to its share in the total population of Russia. The calculations were performed for four regional functions (groups of settlement functions): providing social services, implementing investment projects, ensuring national security, and maintaining critical infrastructure. The regions were clustered based on the preference relations between four regional functions. Four clusters were identified that characterize the spatial distribution of regional functions. An index of the contrast between the borders of different regions has been proposed. According to its values, there are five regional functions of non-coincidence of key settlements: significantly different environment, predominantly significantly different environment, equality of significantly and slightly different environments, predominantly slightly different environment, and slightly different environment. Regions with low, medium, and high diversity have been identified. Nine nuclei of high diversity have been identified. It has been proposed to consider the distortion of the ideal scheme of decreasing diversity as a regional function. The distribution of regions according to three such functions – compliance, excess and underestimation of diversity is shown. The results obtained can be used to optimize the list of reference settlements in Russia |
| Code | 332.1(470+571) |
| JEL | O18, R12, R58 |
| DOI | https://dx.doi.org/10.14530/se.2026.3.007-034 |
| Keywords | socio-economic development, cluster analysis, border contrast, settlement function diversity, region, Russian Federation |
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| For citation | Blanutsa V.I. Key Settlements in New Strategy of Russia’s Spatial Development: Regional Functions. Prostranstvennaya Ekonomika = Spatial Economics, 2026, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 7–34. https://dx.doi.org/10.14530/se.2026.3.007-034 (In Russian) |
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| Financing | The work was carried out at the expense of the state assignment of the Sochava Institute of Geography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (FWEM-2026-0006) ?Socio-geographical foundations of the analysis of Siberia’s territorial structures in the context of Russia’s new Eastern policy and the strengthening of Eurasian continental integration’. No. 126020516552-3 |
| Submitted | 10.08.2026 |
| Approved after reviewing | 24.08.2026 |
| Accepted for publication | 26.08.2026 |
| Available online | 30.09.2026 |