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Territorial Concentration of the Economy and Population in European Union Countries and Russia and the Role of Global Cities

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Abstract—The aim of the study is to identify common trends in the spatial concentration/deconcentration of the population and economy (according to GRP) in the European Union (EU) countries and Russia in 2007–2015. An attempt was made to identify the role of so-called global cities in the process. The study was performed for the EU at two spatial levels: statistical division grids NUTS2 and NUTS3; for Russia, at the federal subject level. The degree of concentration and its dynamics are estimated from an analysis of the Theil index, and the contribution of global cities, through its decomposition. It is shown that the demographic concentration at the NUTS3 level is faster than at the NUTS2 level, in almost all countries. The decrease in territorial economic inequality at the NUTS2 level in the period under review did not lead to convergence at the NUTS3 level, but in the period 2009–2015, there is economic divergence. These results confirm trends previously identified by other researchers. It has been established that the contribution of global cities to economic and demographic concentration processes in both cases is positive. It is stronger than the contribution of other territories to concentration of the population, and in the economy it is almost equal, but opposite to the deconcentration observed in other territories. It is concluded that global cities in Russia make a multidirectional contribution to population concentration and deconcentration of the economy, which is atypical for the EU and similar to states that are also experiencing economic difficulties (e.g., Greece and Portugal).

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Notes

  1. As of 2006, this threshold was estimated at about USD 10 000 of GRP per capita, which corresponded to the level of Brazil and Hungary.

  2. For China, an optimal population size of a city of 3–4 mln people was obtained.

  3. The author of the study claims that for European countries, after overcoming the conditional 70% threshold of the urbanization level, further urban growth has no positive effect on economic growth.

  4. European Observation Network for Territorial Development and Cohesion. https://www.espon.eu/. The DEMIFER—Demographic and Migratory Flows Affecting European Regions and Cities (https://www.espon.eu/demifer and FOCI—Future Orientation for Cities (https://www.espon.eu/programme/projects/espon-2013/applied-research/foci-future-orientation-cities) for which a large number of publications have been issued (see the pages of subprograms).

  5. In addition to the MIGRARE subprogram—Impacts of Refugee Flows to Territorial Development in Europe (https:// www.espon.eu/refugee), in which the issues of demographic development are only briefly addressed.

  6. Most studies report 2005 as the threshold beyond which a decrease in interregional inequality in GRP was recorded, but some studies claim that σ-convergence is observed after the 1998 crisis [16].

  7. The nomenclature of territorial units for the purposes of EU statistics at the NUTS3 level is something between the level of a region and a municipality in Russia and varies quite significantly between countries. This study takes into account a total of 1432 territorial information cells at the NUTS3 level (according to the grid valid until 2015), but their size can vary by an order of magnitude. Due to changes in the NUTS grid since 2016, the 2013 NUTS grid has been used, and the time series available for analysis is limited to the period 2007–2015.

  8. The study was conducted for all 276 NUTS2 cells (2013) except for extraregional units of the countries where they are identified.

  9. St. Petersburg is not attributed to the global cities according to the above version of the list, but it is included in the review due to the high share in the population and economy of Russia.

  10. For example, among large countries, the degree of demographic concentration (Theil index) in the UK is one of the lowest compared to other countries due to the more fractional NUTS3 grid. In contrast, the larger NUTS3 grid in Spain leads to a high statistical estimate of population concentration.

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Funding

The study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project no. 18-014-00044/18 “The Role of Global Cities in the Transformation of State Regulation of Territorial Development (Experience of OECD Countries).”

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  1. Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119017, Moscow, Russia

    E. V. Antonov

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Antonov, E.V. Territorial Concentration of the Economy and Population in European Union Countries and Russia and the Role of Global Cities. Reg. Res. Russ. 10, 360–372 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079970520030028

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