Spatial Structure of Small Cities: The Approaches to Typology (Based on the Materials From Central Russia)

Abstract

The article examines the spatial structure of small towns in Central Russia. The information base of the study covers satellite images of 190 small towns. The paper proposes a concept of morphological structure of the city, which is determined by the nature (shape) of external boundaries, the presence of significant internal barriers leading to the fragmentation of space, and isolated urban areas. A methodology for assessing the complexity of urban space is suggested. It is based on the scoring of the impact of various geographical barriers on the urban environment. The most significant barriers include rivers and railways; the relief features, the location of industrial enterprises and the presence of protected areas were also considered. Special emphasis was given to urban areas isolated from the main built-up territories, i. e. exclaves. Five classes of urban space complexity have been identified, from very simple to very complex. The most complex space is typical of five small towns, which were initially clusters of workers’ settlements. The combination of data on the morpho-logical structure and complexity of space made it possible to identify six final forms of the spatial structure of the city. More often than others, there are cities with a dissected morphological structure in combination with a medium-complex space. One third of the cities under consideration have such parameters. The smallest number of cities has a dissected complex space. The cities tend to increase the complexity of their space in the process of development. The study showed that despite small population, the towns under consideration have very complex spatial structure