The Limits Of Spatial Planning: Regional Experiences Of The Soviet Epoch

ABSTRACT This article discusses the long‐term changes in regional economic disparities, mainly of production, in the Soviet Union. Previous studies, based largely on data from the time of the Khrushchev “thaw” onwards, have linked up with Williamson's (1965) theory of the inverted U‐curve to suggest that the USSR was at the stage where regional disparities were increasing. When data from the pre‐Khrushchev period are brought in, however, what emerges is that these regional disparities in the USSR described a right‐way‐up U‐curve of which earlier studies had only observed the latter part. This result is interpreted to mean that the extremely unbalanced industrialization strategy of the Stalin era was based on extensive exploitation of raw materials which required spatial dispersion of production. When the economy eventually had to move into a balanced phase, growth was concentrated in the most developed parts of the country. What happened in the Soviet Union, therefore, can be characterized as paradoxical when compared with both the neo‐classical theory's equalization and Myrdal's self‐reinforcing polarization. Imbalance of economic structure went hand in hand with regional equalization, while the shift towards balanced economic structure brought increased regional disparities.