Suchergebnisse

St. Petersburg is one of the few metropolitan
centres of Europe the development of which
was consequently planned and carried through
right from its foundation. Its development can
be divided into three important phases: (1) Its
development into a world-famous city of culture
and trade until the beginning of the 20th century;
(2) its development into the second largest
industrial centre of the Soviet Union; (3) its transformation
into an modern multi-functional business
centre in East Europe since the beginning
of the 1990s.
The town was founded in 1703 at a site on
the Baltic coast of strategic importance as a
"window to Europe", far away from the influence
of Moscow, the old capital of patriarchal
Russia. Within only 200 years St. Petersburg
developed into a cultural and economic centre
right between East and West Europe. Along with
the formation of capitalist economic structures,
the town turned into an important international
centre of finance. Already in 1897 the number
of inhabitants amounted to 1.27 million. Traditionally,
the number of foreigners was very high,
especially among the intelligentsia and the armed
forces and in economy. The ethnic composition
was characterized by a high proportion of
non-Russian nationalities (13 per cent) with the
Germans taking the first place (4.6 per cent).
With the beginning of the Soviet era Leningrad
lost not only its name and its status as
capital but also its function as a "window to
Europe". From a European metropolis it developed
into an important industrial centre of
the Soviet Union and was a basis for the economic
development of the North-Western region.
The main emphasis in industrial development
was on the processing branches, in particular
metal processing, and military-oriented branches.
This brought about a strong increase in intraurban
building density as well as a great expansion
of the city area due to the establishment of
land-consuming industries and the building of
large housing estates on the urban fringe.
Leningrad's population increased very rapidly.
Despite interruption by two world wars, civil war
and economic crisis its pupulation size increased
continuously to 3 million until the mid 1950s. In
1990 already 4.5 million people were living in
the actual city area. This increase was caused
chiefly by a government-induced mass influx of
labour from all parts of the Soviet Union. Still
today the share of non-Russians is 11 per cent.
Especially after World War II Leningrad developed
into a technical and scientific centre of the Soviet
Union.
Since the beginning of the 1990s St. Petersburg
has started out on a new period that is
characterized by the step-wise introduction of a
market economy and a new geopolitical situation
in the Baltic region. Due to the decline of
the Soviet Union and the loss of former Soviet
ports the importance of St. Petersburg – beside
Kaliningrad the only port on the Baltic coast left
– will change considerably in the years ahead.
Despite present problems – a strong decrease
in industrial production, dismissal of labour,
transformation of military-oriented industrial resources
into civil ones, privatisation of over-sized
industrial combines and trusts – the city
still avails of an enormous innovative potential
(400 scientific and research institutions, highly
qualified labour, a densely structured traffic network
with international connections, a well-established
tourist sector and others) which will provide
it a chance to become again the turntable
between East and West.

Die Autorinnen zeigen, dass mit der fortschreitenden politischen und ökonomischen Konsolidierung der postsozialistischen Gesellschaften und der damit einhergehenden Stabilisierung der kontextualen Rahmenbedingungen in den Ländern des östlichen Europa sich auch ein Paradigmenwechsel innerhalb der geographischen Forschungslandschaft vollzogen hat, der mit den Begriffen der Einordnung in eine global economy oder der politischen europäischen Integration zu beschreiben ist. Vor dem Hintergrund des Gesamtbildes der auf diese Region bezogenen Forschung werden die Fachaktivitäten des Leipziger Leibniz-Instituts für Länderkunde dargestellt. Anschließend werden die geographische Stadtforschung sowie die Forschungen zu peripheren Räumen mit ihren Theorieansätzen, Methoden und Forschungsdefiziten analysiert und die internationale Vernetzungen dieser Forschungsinstitution präsentiert. (ICG)

Die Autorinnen zeigen, dass mit der fortschreitenden politischen und ökonomischen Konsolidierung der postsozialistischen Gesellschaften und der damit einhergehenden Stabilisierung der kontextualen Rahmenbedingungen in den Ländern des östlichen Europa sich auch ein Paradigmenwechsel innerhalb der geographischen Forschungslandschaft vollzogen hat, der mit den Begriffen der Einordnung in eine global economy oder der politischen europäischen Integration zu beschreiben ist. Vor dem Hintergrund des Gesamtbildes der auf diese Region bezogenen Forschung werden die Fachaktivitäten des Leipziger Leibniz-Instituts für Länderkunde dargestellt. Anschließend werden die geographische Stadtforschung sowie die Forschungen zu peripheren Räumen mit ihren Theorieansätzen, Methoden und Forschungsdefiziten analysiert und die internationale Vernetzungen dieser Forschungsinstitution präsentiert. (ICG)

"Moskau und das Moskauer Gebiet erfuhren während der 1990er Jahre eine starke räumliche Differenzierung und Polarisierung. Im Stadtzentrum und in den angrenzenden Vierteln entstanden eine international orientierte Geschäftsinfrastruktur, neue Bürostandorte und Geschäftsstraßen sowie Zonen des gehobenen Konsums. Dem privilegierten Raum stand eine städtische Peripherie gegenüber, die von vielfältigen Formen des Niedergangs gekennzeichnet war. Stellenweise entwickelte sich jedoch auch hier ein kleinbetriebliches Gewerbe. Erst seit der allmählichen ökonomischen Konsolidierung seit dem Ende der 1990er Jahre entstehen großflächige Einzelhandelsstandorte und Freizeitparks, die vergleichbaren Strukturen an den Peripherien der großen Metropolen auf dem gesamten Globus ähneln." (Autorenreferat)

It is too early to speak of suburbanisation processes in the city regions of Russia, although the statistical data is deceptive: (officially) population decline in Moscow - slight increase in population in the surrounding regions . However, the immigration comes from outside. The same is also true of other large cities. The most mani fest first signs of suburbanisation can be observed in the Moscow city agglomeration (in addition to the population settlement, the establishment of transport and logistics firms, specialist retailers and trade outlets), whereas similar manifestations have been barely registered in other large cities and especially in smaller cities. There is no population concentration from the large cities in the surrounding regions, rather only a concentration of the capital from the large city (second homes in the form of cottages and massive dachas). The population concentration in the surrounding regions is a result of immigration through domestic migration. The structural economic transformation in the cities of the surrounding regions will not be feasible in the short to medium term as a result of a lack of capital and unfavourable growth conditions (circumstances provided by the state). It is most likely to set in with the creation of the tertiary and quarterly sector, especially the companyorientated services sector.

"Perestroika" and the subsequent economic reforms resulted in a review of the entire system of values. Money became crucial to such an extent that it overshadowed the importance of education and profession as factors of prestige. People, who until recently regarded themselves elite, viz. scientists, creative intelligentsia, suddenly realised they were poor. It was only the affiliation to the top echelon of power that retained its capacity to compete with large amounts of money, thereby providing one's access to the benefits. The barriers dividing society on the basis of property ownership have grown significantly. The life of "nouveaux riches" virtually has become isolated from the life of the rest of the people. Even in the sphere of culture and education these contacts have been relaxed. Thus, a new social division of society by virtue of distinctions between the principles of differentiation only partly has inherited the old structure. In conditions, where social prestige began to be associated with money and power by virtue of different principles of differentiation, the "money" clings to "power". Analysis of the housing market indicates that mutual gravitation of power and money exists not only in the sphere of politics or economics, but also in the city itself. Urban environment is polarised. The problem is not only different living conditions and incomes of the population. It is much deeper: there is a growing difference in the views of the people on social justice and means of achieving it. Thus, we have residents of the central and south-western sectors of Moscow plunging deeper and deeper in a world governed by "capital" and regarding "social justice" as an equivalent of labour, whereas residents of the rest of the city continue living in a world of "socialism", where all benefits, housing included, are distributes free of charge, and "social justice" is a natural right of any individual.