Processes of Integration and Fragmentation of Economic Space: The Structure of Settlement Systems

Abstract

This work presents a study of processes of integration and fragmentation caused by the polarization of economic space. Under integration in economic space the authors understand the formation of new and transformation of existing settlement systems, while fragmentation is the dissolution of settlement systems and their transformation into loosely connected settlement networks. The study focuses on the structure of settlement systems. Authors propose a new method for studying the structure of settlement systems, which combines the use of factor analysis, multidimensional scaling, and cluster analysis. The proposed method utilizes the maximum of available information about the social-economic status of settlements to reveal regularities in their spatial organization. The authors test the proposed method on 35 large cities of the Central and Volga federal districts of Russia, which comprise the spatial surroundings of Moscow. The authors find four groups of cities forming the core of the settlement system centered around Moscow, a group of four cities forming a buffer zone around that system, as well as four cities in the studied sample which do not participate in the settlement system

Keywords

• integration
• fragmentation
• structure of settlement system
• economic space
• cities