Concept of proximity: Foreign experience and prospects of application in Russia

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the relatively new concept of proximity. Emerging at the turn of the century in European regional science (economic geography and regional economics), this concept relies on a long-standing tradition of spatial studies (ranging from J. Thünen’s works to regional cluster and urban agglomeration studies). Proximity focuses on the evaluation and analysis of potential interaction between different objects in view of their relative position and similarity in various parameters (social, institutional, organizational, etc.). This concept is similar to that of economic–geographical position; however, since a significantly larger number of factors (spatial, cultural and axiological community, position in social networks, etc.) are considered in the concept of proximity, the authors define it as a multidimensional economic–geographical position. Abroad, the concept of proximity is primarily used within the geography of innovation. In Russia, it is relevant to apply the tools of this concept to study the spatial organization of Russian society not only according to Western tradition (for instance, in the study of territorial clusters and sectoral innovation processes), but also to analyze specific Russian phenomena (dacha migration, otkhodnichestvo, etc.). Furthermore, in the context of Russia’s expansive and sparsely populated territory, the concept of proximity must be reviewed and developed via its dialectical combination with the concept of remoteness used in Arctic studies. For Russia, temporal proximity as a kind of compensation for remoteness factors should be given special importance.