Territorial Structure of the Economy and Population of the Baikal Region: Features, Trends and Prospects
The article identifies and quantifies the main features of the modern territorial structure of the economy and population of the Baikal region: latitudinal zonality, meridional west-east asymmetry, gravitation toward main traffic arteries, localization of the industrial potential within territorial-production complexes, and concentration around chief towns and urban agglomerations (core-periphery contrasts), the difference between “Russian” and “non-Russian” (“ethnic”) regions. We established principal trends in transformation of this structure in the post-Soviet stage: the shift of industry to peripheral regions and strengthening of its resource and raw material specialization, domonation of large capital in the region and property redistribution between private all-Russian companies and state corporations of our country, strengthening of inter-municipal central-peripheral polarization of settlements with growing regional centers and their immediate environment. We consider opportunities for a breakthrough in the economic development of the region during the implementation of the project “Nоvyi Angarstroi”.