Features of the Development of the Urban Settlement System in the Moscow Oblast

Abstract

The article analyzes the dynamics of the spatial structure of the urban settlement system in the Moscow oblast. Three homogeneous stages of urban population growth were identified: 1926–1989, 1990–2008, and 2009–2018. The dynamics of prices in the secondary housing market in the cities of the Moscow oblast in the period from 2004 to 2018 are studied. It is found that the distance to Moscow is the leading factor in the formation of the urban settlement system in the Moscow oblast, as well as the price level in the housing market. It is shown that the distribution of the population over the cities of the Moscow oblast corresponds to the law of the rank distribution of relationships, which is a sign of the transformation of a simple urban settlement system into an agglomeration.