Small Town in the Conditions of the Formation of Agglomerations: a Chance to Survive or a Blow of Modernization?

Abstract

In the context of the rapidly developing urbanization and spatial development strategy of the Russian Federation, focused on strengthening and creating macro-regions, the question arises of what is the place and fate of the development of a small town. The agglomeration approach, which is popularized today as necessary in terms of improving the level and quality of life in the regions, also includes social costs – first of all, ignoring the cultural identity of the small towns, and secondly, utilitarianism and, as a consequence, unification of Russian regions. The author of the article make an attempt to consider such regions – the Kirillovsky district of the Vologda region, which not only has a noticeable number of monuments of architecture, a unique national park, but also is part of the country’s historical province, called the Russian North. Based on the data of two sociological studies conducted in 2009 and 2019, as well as materials from other research groups, an analysis is given of how the population of this territory lives, what are its migration and value attitudes, its attitude to the country and small homeland what role in the life of the population is played by the cultural heritage that it possesses. Attention is drawn to the problem of depopulation of the region as a whole and to the opportunities that exist in reality for territories similar to the Kirillovsky District, which are not only forced to be custodians of cultural originality, but also to be part of this culture themselves, transmitting paternalism and tradition in a certain sense.