Sankt Petersburg: Bedeutungswandel und Entwicklungsperspektiven einer osteuropäischen Metropole

St. Petersburg is one of the few metropolitan centres of Europe the development of which was consequently planned and carried through right from its foundation. Its development can be divided into three important phases: (1) Its development into a world-famous city of culture and trade until the beginning of the 20th century; (2) its development into the second largest industrial centre of the Soviet Union; (3) its transformation into an modern multi-functional business centre in East Europe since the beginning of the 1990s. The town was founded in 1703 at a site on the Baltic coast of strategic importance as a „window to Europe“, far away from the influence of Moscow, the old capital of patriarchal Russia. Within only 200 years St. Petersburg developed into a cultural and economic centre right between East and West Europe. Along with the formation of capitalist economic structures, the town turned into an important international centre of finance. Already in 1897 the number of inhabitants amounted to 1.27 million. Traditionally, the number of foreigners was very high, especially among the intelligentsia and the armed forces and in economy. The ethnic composition was characterized by a high proportion of non-Russian nationalities (13 per cent) with the Germans taking the first place (4.6 per cent). With the beginning of the Soviet era Leningrad lost not only its name and its status as capital but also its function as a „window to Europe“. From a European metropolis it developed into an important industrial centre of the Soviet Union and was a basis for the economic development of the North-Western region. The main emphasis in industrial development was on the processing branches, in particular metal processing, and military-oriented branches. This brought about a strong increase in intraurban building density as well as a great expansion of the city area due to the establishment of land-consuming industries and the building of large housing estates on the urban fringe. Leningrad’s population increased very rapidly. Despite interruption by two world wars, civil war and economic crisis its pupulation size increased continuously to 3 million until the mid 1950s. In 1990 already 4.5 million people were living in the actual city area. This increase was caused chiefly by a government-induced mass influx of labour from all parts of the Soviet Union. Still today the share of non-Russians is 11 per cent. Especially after World War II Leningrad developed into a technical and scientific centre of the Soviet Union. Since the beginning of the 1990s St. Petersburg has started out on a new period that is characterized by the step-wise introduction of a market economy and a new geopolitical situation in the Baltic region. Due to the decline of the Soviet Union and the loss of former Soviet ports the importance of St. Petersburg – beside Kaliningrad the only port on the Baltic coast left – will change considerably in the years ahead. Despite present problems – a strong decrease in industrial production, dismissal of labour, transformation of military-oriented industrial resources into civil ones, privatisation of over-sized industrial combines and trusts – the city still avails of an enormous innovative potential (400 scientific and research institutions, highly qualified labour, a densely structured traffic network with international connections, a well-established tourist sector and others) which will provide it a chance to become again the turntable between East and West

The Transformation of Urban Space in Post-Soviet Russia

In the years since 1989, the societies of Russia and Eastern Europe have undergone a remarkable transformation from socialism to democracy and free market capitalism. Making an important contribution to the theoretical literature of urbanism and post-communist transition, this significant book considers the change in the spatial structure of post-Soviet urban spaces since the period of transition began. It argues that the era of transformation can be considered as largely complete, and that this has given way to a new stage of development as part of the global urban and economic system: post-transformation. The authors examine the modern trends in the urban development of western and post-socialist countries, and explore the theories of the transformation and post-transformation of urban space. Providing a wealth of detailed qualitative research on the Russian city of St. Petersburg, the study examines the changing structure of its retail trade and services sector. Overall, this book is an important step forward in the study of the spatial dynamics of urban transformation in the former communist world

Das östliche Europa im Focus der deutschen Geographie

Die Autorinnen zeigen, dass mit der fortschreitenden politischen und ökonomischen Konsolidierung der postsozialistischen Gesellschaften und der damit einhergehenden Stabilisierung der kontextualen Rahmenbedingungen in den Ländern des östlichen Europa sich auch ein Paradigmenwechsel innerhalb der geographischen Forschungslandschaft vollzogen hat, der mit den Begriffen der Einordnung in eine global economy oder der politischen europäischen Integration zu beschreiben ist. Vor dem Hintergrund des Gesamtbildes der auf diese Region bezogenen Forschung werden die Fachaktivitäten des Leipziger Leibniz-Instituts für Länderkunde dargestellt. Anschließend werden die geographische Stadtforschung sowie die Forschungen zu peripheren Räumen mit ihren Theorieansätzen, Methoden und Forschungsdefiziten analysiert und die internationale Vernetzungen dieser Forschungsinstitution präsentiert. (ICG

Entwicklungstendenzen und Perspektiven der Stadt-Umland-Prozesse in Rußland

It is too early to speak of suburbanisation processes in the city regions of Russia, although the statistical data is deceptive: (officially) population decline in Moscow - slight increase in population in the surrounding regions . However, the immigration comes from outside. The same is also true of other large cities. The most mani fest first signs of suburbanisation can be observed in the Moscow city agglomeration (in addition to the population settlement, the establishment of transport and logistics firms, specialist retailers and trade outlets), whereas similar manifestations have been barely registered in other large cities and especially in smaller cities. There is no population concentration from the large cities in the surrounding regions, rather only a concentration of the capital from the large city (second homes in the form of cottages and massive dachas). The population concentration in the surrounding regions is a result of immigration through domestic migration. The structural economic transformation in the cities of the surrounding regions will not be feasible in the short to medium term as a result of a lack of capital and unfavourable growth conditions (circumstances provided by the state). It is most likely to set in with the creation of the tertiary and quarterly sector, especially the companyorientated services sector

Die Kaukasischen Mineralbäder: Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der Entwicklung einer Tourismusregion

The Caucasian spa region (German abbrev.: KMB) whose recreational function developed at the end of the 18th century is one of Russia's oldest health resort regions. With respect to its qualitative and quantitative properties, the KMB region possesses a unique character in Russia. Principal centres are the four spa resorts of Kislovodsk, Essentuki, Pyatigorsk, Shelesnovodsk, the industrial town of Lermontov as well as the city of Mineralnye Vody as a traffic centre. The existing KMB capacity of rest and recuperation homes now amounts to 45 000 places in sanatoriums, boarding-houses and resort hotels. The favourable natural recreation conditions, their concentration on a relatively limited territory, the considerable potential of health resorts and the recognized high efficiency of the therapeutic treatment provide good perspectives for the further development of the health resort complex among the Caucasian spa towns. But this region also faces numerous problems which will affect the development perspective of the KMB region: air-polluting industrial establishments, a critical ecological situation, oversized resort hotels without international standards as well as an uncertain geopolitical situation. The Caucasian spa region is nowadays a polyfunctional agglomeration with an overall population of about 600 000 inhabitants. The population density along the Mineralnye Vody-Kislovodsk city axis is about 950 inhabitants/km2. During the last 25 years the population of this region has grown intensely; this was especially due to the location of industries that are not linked to recreation. At present, the KMB region with its unique natural conditions and resources is a zone with a relatively unplanned settlement structure where industrial establishments, public enterprises and warehouses, facilities for transport and agriculture extend directly into the residential areas and even into the health resort zone. Due to the unsatisfactory ecological conditions, it is not possible to make use of the entire range of mineral waters for therapeutic purposes. As marketing of the health resort potential is needed, development plans were conceived with special orientation towards the dislocation of industrial, transportation and agricultural activities (these are the main air-polluters), towards the delineation of a natural resource region committed to restrictive resource use as well as towards the organisation of complex environmental control. For the present, the implementation of the new health resort concept will only be possible with financial assistance from abroad due to Russia's financial problems

Der Immobilienmarkt in Moskau: Grundtendenzen der 90er Jahre

"Perestroika" and the subsequent economic reforms resulted in a review of the entire system of values. Money became crucial to such an extent that it overshadowed the importance of education and profession as factors of prestige. People, who until recently regarded themselves elite, viz. scientists, creative intelligentsia, suddenly realised they were poor. It was only the affiliation to the top echelon of power that retained its capacity to compete with large amounts of money, thereby providing one's access to the benefits. The barriers dividing society on the basis of property ownership have grown significantly. The life of "nouveaux riches" virtually has become isolated from the life of the rest of the people. Even in the sphere of culture and education these contacts have been relaxed. Thus, a new social division of society by virtue of distinctions between the principles of differentiation only partly has inherited the old structure. In conditions, where social prestige began to be associated with money and power by virtue of different principles of differentiation, the "money" clings to "power". Analysis of the housing market indicates that mutual gravitation of power and money exists not only in the sphere of politics or economics, but also in the city itself. Urban environment is polarised. The problem is not only different living conditions and incomes of the population. It is much deeper: there is a growing difference in the views of the people on social justice and means of achieving it. Thus, we have residents of the central and south-western sectors of Moscow plunging deeper and deeper in a world governed by "capital" and regarding "social justice" as an equivalent of labour, whereas residents of the rest of the city continue living in a world of "socialism", where all benefits, housing included, are distributes free of charge, and "social justice" is a natural right of any individual

Die Organisation der Volkzählung 2010

Volkszählungen sind ein politisches Ereignis und stellen eine organisatorische Herausforderung dar. Die Organisation der Volkszählung 2010 in Russland war von diversen Schwierigkeiten begleitet, die zwischenzeitlich sogar eine Verschiebung nahe legten. Insgesamt ist die Volkszählung als regulär verlaufen und ihre Grunddaten als verlässliche Datenquelle zu beurteilen

Sozialräumliche Entwicklungspfade in der postsozialistischen Stadt: empirisch-konzeptionelle Reflexionen zum sozialräumlichen Wandel in mittel- und osteuropäischen Großstadtregionen nach 1990

Der gesellschaftliche Systemwechsel seit den 1990er Jahren prägt und wandelt die Stadtregionen im mittleren und östlichen Europa (MOE). Es verändern sich damit auch die urbanen Lebenswelten: die lokalen Wohnungsmärkte und Wohnqualitäten, die Wohnwünsche und -standortentscheidungen der Menschen. Infolgedessen zeigen sich heute nach mehr als 20 Jahren des Wandels deutliche sozialräumliche Entwicklungstendenzen in den mittel- und osteuropäischen Städten und deren Umland, deuten sich neue Prozesse an und kristallisieren sich die Bestimmungsfaktoren dieser Entwicklungen heraus. In den Studien zum sozialräumlichen Wandel in Stadtregionen des postsozialistischen Europas werden jedoch die Entwicklungen verschiedener Wohnquartierstypen im Rahmen gesamtstadtregionaler Prozesse weder systematisch reflektiert noch vergleichend untersucht. Das Erkennen ähnlicher bzw. unterschiedlicher sozialräumlicher Muster und ihrer Entwicklungs- pfade ist damit schwer möglich. Der kritischen Diskussion zum Konzept der "postsozialistischen Stadt" fehlt bisher eine ausreichende empirische Fundierung. Der Beitrag setzt an diesen Defiziten an. Die partiell in Einzelstudien publizierten Erkenntnisse der Autoren werden zusammengeführt und durch Ergebnisse eigener stadtregionaler und vergleichender Primärforschung zu den Fallstudien Leipzig, Budapest, Vilnius, Sofia und St. Petersburg bereichert. Ergebnisse der Studie sind zum einen ähnliche sozialräumliche Entwicklungstendenzen auf der Wohnquartiersebene der untersuchten MOE-Großstadtregionen: der soziostrukturelle Aufstieg der neuen Suburbia, die Persistenz der Großwohnsiedlungen und die Wiederentdeckung der inneren Städte. Zum anderen belegen die Daten unterschiedliche Typen sozialräumlicher Entwicklung in den entsprechenden Stadtregionen. Diese sind Teil differenzierter Pfade postsozialistischer Stadtentwicklung, welche die hybriden Überlagerungen und unterschiedlichen Ausprägungen von sozialistischem und transformativem Erbe sowie transnationalem Einfluss in den MOE-Stadtregionen widerspiegeln. Der Beitrag integriert damit bisherige Forschungen zum Thema und trägt empirisch fundiert zur konzeptionellen Diskussion der "postsozialistischen Stadt" bei.The change in societal system since the 1990s has been shaping the city regions in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The urban social space has transformed as well, reflecting changed local housing markets and qualities, new housing preferences and increased residential mobilities among city dwellers. So more than 20 years of societal transformation, distinct sociospatial development trends have emerged, new processes loom, and the contexts and factors determining these developments are becoming evident. However so far, the studies focussing on socio-spatial change in post-socialist European cities have missed to reveal and explain the entangled socio-spatial changings and persistencies of different neigbourhoods within an urban region in a systematic and comparative way. In consequence, it seems difficult to identify similar as well as different patterns of socio-spatial development and the paths of emergence in CEE metropolises. Thus, the background is missing to discuss the concept of the "post-socialist city" in a critically and empirically well-founded way. The following paper seeks to address these shortcomings. It merges current research and enriches the gained insights by primary, comparative case study research which was carried out in the CEE urban regions of Leipzig, Budapest, Vilnius, Sofia and St. Petersburg. In doing so, the authors reveal on the one hand similar trends of socio-spatial development in CEE urban regions: the rise of the new suburbia, the stability of large-scale housing estates in the face of many negative scenarios and the rediscovery and upgrading of the inner cities following a long period of descent. On the other hand, the authors argue for differentiated patterns of socio-spatial developments in the city regions after 1990, which reflect the different paths of post-socialist urban development - paths that are based on the hybrid eclipsing and diverse forms of socialist and transformative legacy as well as transnational influence. Finally, the paper seeks to integrate previous research about the topic of sociospatial change in CEE and to contribute empirically well-founded to the conceptual discussion of the "post-socialist city"

Sozialräumliche Differenzen in Großstadtregionen des mittleren und östlichen Europa: ein Überblick

Im Mittelpunkt des Beitrags stehen markante Stadtentwicklungsprozesse, die sich in mittel-/osteuropäischen Stadtregionen seit Anfang der 1990er Jahre vollziehen. Unterschiedliche Bedingungen des Wohnungsmarktes, spezifische demographische und sozioökonomische Strukturen in den Städten Vilnius, Budapest, Leipzig, St. Petersburg und Sofia sind Ursachen für den unterschiedlichen Verlauf sozialräumlicher Differenzierung. Bei aller Individualität lassen sich dennoch gemeinsame Trends der Stadtentwicklung erkennen: Die Suburbanisierung ist einer der bedeutendsten raumprägenden Prozesse in postsozialistischen Stadtregionen. Daneben repräsentieren abgeschlossene und überwachte Wohnkomplexe sowohl in Form neuer suburbaner als auch innerstädtischer Wohnprojekte einen wichtigen neuen Bestandteil der Wohnungsmärkte. Hingegen sind Gentrification-Prozesse im Sinn einer starken baulichen Aufwertung in Kombination mit dem Zuzug einkommensstarker und hoch qualifizierter Bevölkerungsschichten in die innenstadtnahen Bereiche in den betrachteten Städten nur punktuell zu beobachten. Die baulich homogenen Großwohnsiedlungen der sozialistischen Ära, deren Bedeutung für die Wohnversorgung zum Teil von erheblicher Bedeutung ist, sind von einem downgrading bedroht. (Autorenreferat)The article reviews segregation research in former communist countries exemplified by prominent socio-spatial structures and processes in Central-East European urban regions since the beginning of the 1990ies. The statement focuses on recent processes in the cases of St. Petersburg, Budapest, Sofia, Vilnius and Leipzig. Nevertheless there are different structures of the housing market as well as demographic and socioeconomic developments prevailing in these city regions, some common trends can be identified: a basic pattern is the popularity of the suburban single-family housing ideal. Also the emerging new gated communities most notably symbolize the change in post-socialist urban societies. On the other hand gentrification in terms of a significant structural upgrading combined with an influx of high-income, highly-skilled strata into inner-city areas appears so far to be limited to isolated cases. The large scale housing estates of the socialist period which are substantial for the housing supply of the population in CEE-Cities are partly endangered by downgrading processes. Against this backdrop comparative empirical studies with respect to variable and increasing social inequality in former socialist countries can be considered as a desideratum. (author's abstract

Die demographische Entwicklung 1989 - 2002 - 2010

Die Demographie Russlands zeigt bezüglich verschiedener Faktoren eine Annäherung an internationale Trends. Dazu gehören z.B. die Alterung der Bevölkerung, vor allem auf Grund gesunkener Geburtenraten, und die Erhöhnug des Alters der Mütter bei der ersten Geburt. Die deutliche Erhöhung der Zahl russischer Bürger, die sich im Ausland aufhalten, sowie der Arbeitswanderer in Russland zeigt die wachsende Integration des Landes in die internationale Wirtschaft und ihre (Arbeits-)Migrationssysteme