Prospects for the development of single-industry towns in the Russian Arctic

Abstract

Currently single-industry Arctic towns are facing a number of troublesome demographic trends: decline in the share of youth in the population structure, ageing of the population and reduction of the labor force in the labor market, general depopulation particularly characteristic of sparsely populated settlements. Concentration of people in big cities and "dying" of small towns in the Arctic are accompanied by huge demographic changes and increasing migration. Our study allows a comprehensive approach to studying 18 single-industry Arctic towns and settlements of the Russian Federation. The research is based on the methodology for assessment of demographic potential of territories developed by RAS Corresponding Member N. M. Rimashevskaya. Statistical data on single-industry Arctic towns and settlements was accumulated from Rosstat open sources for the period 2011-2020. These data concerned mainly demography, migration and labor market. Analysis of vacancies at three leading recruiting agencies of the Russian Federation — trudvsem, superjob, headhunter — helped to identify top-5 occupations in the Arctic single-industry towns. The occupations in demand were represented by both the number of vacancies the range of wages. Arctic residents' problems in 18 Arctic towns over the past year (starting from January 2021) were also analyzed via social networks. About 50 groups of VKontakte social network were examined to identify the main problems of concern to Arctic residents. These concerns can be divided into 3 types — social, economic and environmental. There are also some positive practices in the Arctic single-industry towns and settlements, such as volunteering and career guidance that gives hope for continuation of life there. In conclusion, there are put forward proposals to improve the system of management of sustainable development and modernization of the single-industry Arctic towns.