Spatial aspects of regional infrastructure distribution (the case of Sverdlovsk region)

The article discusses the correlation between the localization of specific infrastructure objects within a region and characteristics of this region's territorial development. Conceptually the study is grounded in the theory of regional economics, spatial analysis and modelling and uses the tools of spatial autocorrelation analysis, such as the global and local Moran's I, and map-based spatial analysis. The settlement system of Sverdlovsk region (Russia) is considered as a key characteristic of its territorial development and the analysis shows the correlation between settlement patterns and the distribution of certain objects of social infrastructure (places of attraction) across the region’s territory. Access to infrastructure is an important factor which attracts people to this or that municipality. However, the key parameter that determines the spatial aspects of infrastructure distribution in the region is the emergence and development of the factors underlying this process. The article demonstrates that the localization of infrastructure objects built to generate economic effects and bring profit to their developers to a greater extent correlates with the prospective transformations of the settlement system (primarily agglomeration processes) rather than with its current characteristics (such correlation is more typical of the infrastructure objects specifically intended to address social issues). These research findings can be used by policy-makers for setting priorities of regional development, which would shape the spatial transformations of the territory.