Urban Geography and Spatial Demographics Zoltan Grossman, Blood & Borders, The Evergreen State College
USSR Population (Lost 15 mil to civil war/Stalin and 14 mil to WWII; Male shortage one reason for women in both workforce & home) Despite Annexations! Population would have been 440 million in 1991 without wars
“State Socialism” Central planning of “Command Economy” Guaranteed job, low rents, health care, daycare, etc. Heavy industrialization to catch up to West Forced collectivization of private farmlands Notes
Soviet Bloc urban population Soviets favored large industry over farms & cities Moscow 30% industrial; Paris only 5% Urbanization but without urban services/transit/life Prefab worker apartment blocs / housing shortages
Russian urban population Overwhelmingly in largest cities
“Shock therapy” Close command industries Reduce or end subsidies Pass burden to renters Privatize industrial economy; benefit new entrepeneurs High unemployment, inflation, inequality
Winning regions Hub regions Gateway regions - Government/transportation centers. High-tech industries - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Nizhny Novgorod, Urals Gateway regions - Outward looking/ trade-oriented - Vladivostok, Murmansk, Kaliningrad
Losing regions Huge gaps in prices, income, roads Command military-industrial / coal regions State agricultural regions Remote natural resource (non-oil) Ethnic minority regions in conflict
Favorable regions of Russia
Unfavorable regions of Russia
Effects of war, poor male health Russia’s demographics, 1990-2006 Male Female Effects of war, poor male health
Russian birth rate
Russian death rate
U.S. Baby Boom USSR instead had “echo busts” slowing growth in 1960s, 1980s Echo Boom Baby Boom (1946-1964) Baby Bust (1965-1980)
Russian life expectancy Men dying from alcohol, drugs, accidents, crime; Male life expectancy now like parts of Third World
Russia’s population decline Population decline for first time since WWII; Worries about aging population, labor shortages; Larger families in Muslim regions but not as many industrial workers
Feudal City Narrow, Twisty Medieval Streets Vienna, Austria
URBAN GEOGRAPHY: Trade City Merchant capitalism emerges 1400s-1500s; Gradually replaces feudalism Mediterranean Sea ports Baltic/North Sea ports (Hanseatic League)
Industrial capitalist City (1800 on) Revolution: Steam engine Steel Loom
Other European city characteristics Plazas High density Low skyline Lively downtown Neighborhood stability Symbolism/memorials Good municipal services
Central Place Theory Explaining the relative size /function of urban centers as a function of economic behavior Range: Maximum distance buyer will travel Threshold: Minimum market size
Stages of intraurban growth in U.S. Counterurbanization of wealthy More than half live in suburbs today
Western European City Industrial workers, immigrants in suburbs
Central European City Budapest, Hungary
Urban Inequalities under State Socialism (Iván Szelényi, Oxford U. Press, 1983)
Unemployment, 1980-2010
Unemployment, 2002-2010
Depressed regions, 2004
Roma population, 2001
Jobbik vote, 2009
Jobbik / Hungarian Guard