Small Town Suburbs and Rural–Urban Migration. Example of Municipal District Centers of Vologda oblast

The article examines the territorial structure and development of suburbs of small towns, as well as the territories around municipal district centers that do not have city status. The observed processes fit into the general process of population concentration around centers, which is inherent in settlement systems of almost all hierarchical levels in Russia. Modern geographical studies often consider the growth of the largest urban agglomerations and the development of their suburbs, but similar processes are also observed at the level of municipal districts. At the same time, the development of suburban areas in this case does not occur against the background of urban growth, but against the background of depopulation of both cores and peripheral territories. The study is based on the materials of field studies in three municipal districts of Vologda oblast, which included in-kind observations, expert and in-depth interviews with representatives of municipal district and rural local administrations, residents of both suburban and peripheral rural settlements, as well as the collection of statistical data on population dynamics. Field studies are supplemented by processing of population statistics. Studies have shown that population increase and the development of individual housing construction occur in the vicinity of settlements with the status of a district center, regardless of the presence of urban status. Suburbanization in the classical sense is rarely observed, since small towns and rural district centers most often have low-rise and individual development, but the movement of city dwellers from the city to the suburbs still occurs. The move of rural residents to the suburbs, and not to district centers, is explained by both the lower prices of real estate and the desire to preserve rural benefits. The development of suburban areas of local centers is not homogeneous; the most attractive are either large settlements with developed infrastructure or settlements with an attractive natural environment and high transport accessibility.