Those cities and towns. The locality is

Settlement - a place of permanent or temporary residence of people. This is a territory built up with residential and industrial buildings, cultural and community facilities.

The separation of industrial labor from agricultural labor led to the emergence of two main types settlements- urban and rural. AT different countries Various quantitative characteristics have been adopted, according to which a particular settlement is classified as urban or rural. However, the main differences between them are not so much in the number of inhabitants, but in the functions (economic, cultural, administrative and political) that the settlement performs. In Latvia, for example, all settlements with more than 2,000 inhabitants are considered urban, but in Moldova, a significant proportion of the population lives in villages with more than 5,000 inhabitants.

Exploring the city requires special combination knowledge in the field not only of geography, but also of history, art and architecture, etc. Everyone can discover in his city some new features that have not yet been revealed by anyone. Economic geography also plays an important role in this.

What is required to understand the economic and geographical features of a modern city?

It is important to understand and evaluate its economic and geographical position, to establish the origin of the name. It is also necessary to trace the development of the city, the growth in the number and changes in the composition of its inhabitants, the increase in the territory it occupies.

It is necessary to determine the economic specialization of the city and its place in the single economic complex of the country. Therefore, its transport and economic ties with other cities and regions are necessarily studied. Finally, it is very interesting to find out the prospects for the further development of my native city.

By population, cities are divided into small (up to 50 thousand inhabitants), medium (up to 100 thousand inhabitants) and large (more than 100 thousand inhabitants). The growth in the number of cities with a population of over 500,000 gave rise to the category of super-large, or largest, cities. In 1917, there were only 2 of them in our country, and according to the 1979 population census, there were already 45. Cities with a population of more than a million people are real giants.

Our country has really become a country big cities. In total, they are home to about 50 million people, or almost 40% of the population. The share of small and medium-sized cities, urban-type settlements accounts for about 30 million people, or approximately 22% of the country's population.

A big city is at the same time a large industrial center, an administrative, scientific and cultural center, and a powerful transport hub. With rare exceptions, all capitals autonomous republics, regional and regional centers are big cities. At the same time, the other part of the big cities, not being officially one or another administrative center, nonetheless perform important organizational and economic functions in relation to a particular area.

Big cities accumulate not only material and spiritual values. They multiply and shortcomings, give birth whole line complex scientific and technical problems. One of the main ones is the preservation of a healthy human environment.

Small and medium cities- support and lever for the transformation of rural settlement, important tool overcoming the differences between town and country. At the same time, they are a means of regulating large cities, which are threatened with excessive growth.

Cities are one of the most important features modern life people in many countries of the world. Their growth, the increase in the proportion of city dwellers in the population, the spread of the urban way of life to the countryside - all this is called urbanization.

On the territory of Russia, as well as throughout the planet, cities were distributed unevenly. In the north and east of our country, they are separated from each other at very respectful distances. The picture is different around the largest cities in populated areas, where powerful territorial production complexes have already been formed, as well as at the main port "entrances and exits" from the country. There is a close proximity of large and small cities. The gap between them is reduced to a few kilometers. Sometimes neighboring cities get so close that they seem to grow into each other. A continuous strip along sections of significant length railways stretch, without interruption, urban settlements in the suburbs. Here are the real constellations of cities.

Groups and clusters of cities that are closely located and closely related in labor, cultural and domestic terms are called agglomerations. More than 80% of all citizens of the country live in them.

Rural settlements- These are settlements with a relatively small number of inhabitants, most of whom are engaged in agriculture. Rural settlements also include such settlements where residents are employed in forestry, in transport services, etc. The size of rural settlements ranges from tiny, with up to 10 inhabitants, to giant villages with a population of 5 or more thousand inhabitants.

The co-operation of small peasant farming and the creation of powerful agricultural enterprises gave impetus to the concentration rural population in large villages and towns. This process makes it possible to successfully solve the problem of undesirable differences between the city and the countryside. In each of the hundreds of thousands of villages and villages in our country, it is far from always economically feasible to build water supply and sewerage systems, establish electricity and gas supplies, even have a school and a club, a library and a shop. All this is available only to large modern rural settlements.

Deepening the specialization of agriculture, its concentration and mechanization, the creation agro-industrial complexes achievable only on the basis of large rural settlements. That is why the main direction of improving the existing system of settlement villagers in many regions of the country, for example, in the Non-Chernozem zone of Russia, there is a transition from a network of small settlements to settlements, much larger in size and with a higher level of amenities.

In geographical local history, rural settlements are studied as component larger and more complex objects. An analysis of the location of settlements within the boundaries of this economy is carried out, an assessment of the economic geographical location central estate and the significance of each settlement is clarified. It is necessary to collect information on the number of inhabitants, their age composition, employment certain types agricultural labor. It is desirable to have such data in dynamics, i.e., for a sufficiently long series of years. The analysis is completed by the characterization of cultural and living conditions and the prospects for their improvement in the countryside.

Such a study of rural settlements makes it possible to trace socio-economic changes in the countryside, helps to identify the most promising settlements for further growth and development.

The concept and composition of the lands of settlements
The concept of a settlement under the legislation of the Russian Federation

1. The concept and composition of the lands of settlements

According to paragraph 1 of Art. 83 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation, lands of settlements are lands used and intended for the construction and development of settlements.
The main feature is their location - these lands are separated from the lands of other categories by the boundaries of urban, rural settlements. The boundaries of settlements are displayed on the master plan of the urban district, settlement, as well as the territorial planning scheme of the municipal district. The borders of urban, rural settlements cannot cross the borders municipalities or go beyond their borders, as well as cross the borders of land plots provided to citizens or legal entities.
The second sign of the lands of this category is their intended purpose - this is the development and development of urban and rural settlements.
Types of territorial zones are listed in paragraph 1 of Art. 85 ZK RF. These include:
residential,
public and business,
production,
engineering and transport infrastructures,
recreational,
agricultural use,
special purpose etc.
Local self-government bodies may establish other types of territorial zones, allocated taking into account functional areas and features of the use of land plots and capital construction projects.
In residential areas of settlements, it is allowed to place free-standing, built-in or attached social and domestic facilities, healthcare facilities, general education, places of worship, parking lots road transport, garages and other facilities related to the residence of citizens and not providing negative impact on the environment.
Public and business zones of settlements are designed to accommodate healthcare facilities, culture, trade, public catering, social and domestic purposes, business activities, secondary professional and higher education facilities. vocational education, administrative, research institutions, religious buildings, parking lots, business, financial facilities and others related to the life of citizens. The list of capital construction objects permitted for placement in public and business areas may include residential buildings, hotels, underground or multi-storey garages. In industrial zones, zones of engineering and transport infrastructures, utility and storage facilities, housing and communal services, transport, wholesale trade facilities can be located. The agricultural use zones may include land plots occupied by agricultural land, agricultural facilities and intended for agricultural and dacha farming, horticulture, personal subsidiary plots, development of agricultural facilities.
Recreational areas may include areas occupied by urban forests, squares, parks, city gardens, ponds, lakes, reservoirs, beaches, used and intended for recreation, tourism, activities. physical culture and sports. In settlements, zones of specially protected territories may be allocated, which include land plots of special environmental, scientific, historical, cultural, aesthetic, recreational, health-improving and other especially valuable value.
Special purpose zones may include territories occupied by cemeteries, crematoria, animal burial grounds, consumer waste disposal facilities and other facilities, the placement of which can only be ensured by allocating these zones and is unacceptable in other territorial zones. The composition of various territorial zones may include land plots (territories) common use occupied by squares, streets, driveways, highways, embankments, squares, boulevards, water bodies, beaches and other facilities that are freely used by an unlimited number of people. A single social, natural and economic territory with the lands of settlements is constituted by suburban areas located outside the boundaries of settlements. In suburban areas, areas of agricultural production, recreation areas for the population, reserve lands for the development of the city are allocated. Borders and legal regime of suburban areas, with the exception of suburban areas of cities federal significance Moscow and St. Petersburg, are approved and amended by the laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

2. The concept of a settlement under the legislation of the Russian Federation

The current legislation does not contain the concept of "settlement". Federal Law "On general principles organizations of local self-government in the Russian Federation” dated 06.10.2003 N 131-FZ gives the concepts of urban and rural settlements:
An urban settlement is a city or a settlement in which local self-government is exercised by the population directly and (or) through elected and other bodies of local self-government;
Rural settlement - one or several rural settlements united by a common territory, in which local self-government is exercised by the population directly and (or) through elected and other local self-government bodies.
Thus, from the text of the law it follows that settlements are
- cities
- urban districts
- urban districts with intracity division
- settlements
- villages, villages, villages, farms, kishlaks, auls and other rural settlements.

Russia is one of the ten largest countries in the world in terms of population. The last census, which was conducted in 2010, shows that more than 142 million people live in the country.

Organized compact living of people forms settlements. Their main types, represented in Russia, are a city, an urban-type settlement, a village, a village, a village, a farm, and an aul. The formation of settlements is due to many reasons. Initially, settlements appear in territories with the most favorable climatic and relief conditions, industrial and economic potential.

Russia is a country with rather severe climatic conditions, which, of course, primarily affects the formation of a system of settlements. Most densely populated area Russian Federation is the central part.

Another factor influencing the settlement is the industrial potential of the territories. Taking into account the fact that the main mineral deposits in Russia are located in its northern territory, it is this part of the country that is most industrially developed region with pretty high density population.

Consider the types of settlements in the Russian Federation.

Cities and villages

What are the types of settlements? All settlements in the Russian Federation are divided into urban and rural, which reflects the main type of employment of people.

The dominant population of the Russian Federation lives in the city. This fact can be explained by both social and material reasons. Cities are predominantly centers of civilization with a developed infrastructure, the presence of cultural and social facilities, and more comfortable living conditions compared to rural ones. It is these reasons that cause the outflow of the rural population from the hinterland and the virtual extinction of small rural settlements.

This process of dominance of cities over villages is called urbanization. Primarily cities in Russia were industrial centers which allowed the starving peasants to survive. The development of these centers led to their growth and, as a result, an increase in the number of people living in them. Today, three-quarters of the country's population lives in cities.

The main classification reflecting the types of settlements is the classification related to the population.

Characteristics of cities by population

The total number of cities in Russia exceeds 2,000 names, of which 1,000 are cities and more than 2,000 urban-type settlements. For Russia, cities are considered settlements, the number of people living in which is not less than twelve thousand people, of which more than 90 percent are employed in production, the social sphere and the service sector.

Moscow - main city Russian Federation, its capital, where more than 10 million people live.

The population allows us to subdivide cities into the following types of settlements:

Super-large cities, or million-plus cities, with a population of more than three million. There are 2 such cities in Russia - Moscow and St. Petersburg.
The largest cities, with a population of one to three million. There are 13 cities in Russia with a population in the announced range, among them Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Omsk, Rostov-on-Don, Ufa.
Large cities, the population of which is from two hundred and fifty thousand to one million. There are more than forty such cities in Russia.
Large cities, where the number of people living ranges from one hundred to two hundred and fifty thousand. In the country, their number has exceeded nine dozen.
Medium cities, where fifty to one hundred thousand people live. Their number has exceeded one and a half hundred.
Small towns and settlements, in which does not exceed fifty thousand people.

The most intensive population growth occurs in the largest and largest cities, due to their industrial and economic progress.

City agglomerations

Speaking about urban types of settlements in Russia, it is also necessary to dwell on the concept of " urban agglomeration". This concept refers to the cooperation of those located close to big city medium-sized cities, which are united by labor, infrastructural, industrial and other types of ties.

Such medium-sized cities are called satellite cities. Satellite cities reduce population density in large ones.

The most important factor contributing to the emergence of agglomerations is the developed transport links between cities. In Russia, satellite towns have been formed near Kuibyshev, Moscow, St. Petersburg.

When agglomerations merge, megacities are formed. In Russia today, megacities have not been formed.

Characteristics of cities on a structural basis

The territorial structure of Russia makes it possible to single out the following types of urban settlements: federal, regional (oblast, krai, republican, etc.) and district.

The Constitution of the Russian Federation defines St. Petersburg and Sevastopol.

Cities of regional significance are settlements that perform the functions of an economic and cultural center, characterized by a developed industry and a population of more than thirty thousand people.

However, the quantitative indicators of the population in such cities are not exceptional, they are rather a priority. More significant criterion classification of cities as cities of regional significance can be considered their social, economic indicators, achievements in the social, cultural sphere, historical uniqueness, long-term plans increased population growth and economic development. In addition to the above criteria, in order to classify cities as cities of regional significance, it is necessary to take into account cities that have a regional structure.

Requirements for the number of residents in cities of regional significance are individual in each subject of the Russian Federation. As a rule, they include urban settlements with a population of fifty thousand. On the territory of such cities, industry functions, the communal sector is developed, educational, medical and commercial institutions, as well as cultural institutions provide services.

Characteristics of cities on a functional basis

The following typological classification into types of settlements involves their division, which is based on the functions performed. Those functions include: political, administrative, industrial, transport, trade, scientific, military, recreational (health) functions. Depending on the number of functions performed by the city, they are divided into monofunctional and polyfunctional.

Characteristics of cities by economic and geographical location

There is also a gradation of cities into types of settlements according to their economic and geographical position:

located near a mineral deposit;
related to railway infrastructure;
port;
industrial and transport.

Urban village

An intermediate link between a city and a village in Russia is an urban-type settlement. This intermediateness has an impact on the quantitative composition of such settlements, as well as on the scope of employment.

The total number in the Russian Federation exceeds 1200 units. The number of people living in such settlements can vary from a few dozen people to several thousand. The largest urban-type settlement in Russia is the settlement of Ordzhonikidzevskaya, where more than 64 thousand people live.

There are several subspecies of urban-type settlements, which are located outside the city. Such settlements are considered: workers' settlements, where industrial facilities(population up to three thousand people); resort villages (population up to two thousand people); summer cottages.

Rural settlements are the most widely represented in Russia. Their total number exceeds 150 thousand. A quarter of these settlements can be classified as sparsely populated, with less than 10 people living in them.

Despite the significant number of rural settlements, the number of people living in them is slightly more than twenty percent of the total population of Russia.

This state of affairs is due to the low standard of living in the countryside, its poor technological equipment, which, in turn, leads to the migration of the population to cities.

Types of settlements, depending on the size of their population, can be subdivided as follows:

Large with a population exceeding five thousand.
Large with a population of up to five thousand.
Medium with a population of two hundred - one thousand people.
Small with a population of up to two hundred people.

The main types of rural settlements represented on the territory of Russia

A village is a large settlement in which there is or used to be a church. It performs the functions of a local center.
A village is a small settlement that historically did not have a church.
Settlement - a new type of rural settlement that arose during the Soviet Union.
Aul is a locality where ethnic population: Adyghe, Abaza and Nogai.
Khutor is a settlement with an individual farm, consisting of outbuildings, the number of which does not exceed 10.
Stanitsa - a settlement formed by the Cossacks. The largest village of the country is Kanevskaya in the Krasnodar Territory, its population is about 45 thousand people.

Types of settlements in Russia have been formed over many years. For the organization of settlements a huge impact provide natural and climatic factors. - the main type of employment of people living in villages today. Favorable weather conditions play a major role here.

Given that in the overwhelming majority of cases, villages are monofunctional, today the main types of settlements are cities.

Summarize

Having considered the topic "What types of settlements are formed on the territory of the Russian Federation", we can conclude that rural settlements quantitatively prevail, but the population density in urban areas is much higher.

The term "settlement" (settlement) has a broad interpretation in the literature. In the Dictionary of the Russian Language S.I. Ozhegov, a settlement is understood as "a settlement, as well as in general a place where someone lives, dwells." In turn, the locality is "the general name of the places where people live (city, village, town, etc.)". A number of authors propose to understand a settlement as "a place where people live compactly (in a certain limited area)."

According to other researchers, a settlement is “a place of permanent residence of people, adapted for life, economic activity and recreation, where housing, administrative and utility buildings are concentrated. Thus, the concepts of "settlement" and "settlement" practically coincide.

Until recently, federal legislation did not disclose the concept of "settlement", and also did not establish (and does not establish) the administrative-territorial structure and the procedure for changing it in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The reason for this is the assignment by the Federal Law of October 6, 1999 “On the General Principles of Organization of Legislative (Representative) and Executive Bodies state power constituent entities of the Russian Federation” of issues of administrative-territorial structure to the number of powers of the legislative body of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation.

From this, in turn, follows the problem of the relationship between the concept of "municipal formation" and the concept of "administrative-territorial unit". A municipal formation "may or may not be an administrative-territorial unit, and the mere presence of an administrative-territorial unit does not in itself necessarily entail the implementation of local self-government within its boundaries."

The boundaries in which local self-government is exercised may not always coincide with the boundaries of administrative-territorial units, therefore, it is necessary to distinguish between the concepts of "territory of a settlement" and "territory of a municipal formation". On the territory of a settlement there may be one municipal formation (“urban district”), and then these concepts coincide, but there may also be several municipal formations (“intra-urban territories”), or several settlements may be part of one municipal formation (“rural settlement”). "). Then these concepts have a different semantic load.

As noted in the scientific legal literature, “the laws of the subject of the Federation on the administrative-territorial division and the legislation regulating the territorial structure of local self-government operate in very close, but not coinciding planes. The institute of the administrative-territorial structure functions as the basis of state power, and the institution of the territorial structure of local self-government functions as an organization of municipal government. The vagueness of the definitions that determine the administrative-territorial division of the subject of the Federation and the territorial structure of the municipality has led to the actual mixing of these two different phenomena.

Indeed, it is difficult to deny the existence of a number of differences in the goals and objectives of the administrative-territorial division of the territory of a subject of the Russian Federation and the delimitation of its territory into a number of municipalities. At the same time, the establishment of a mismatched system of the internal structure of the subject of the Russian Federation entails a certain confusion and uncertainty. The appearance of the latter is largely due to the lack of uniformity in the approaches of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation to determine the internal structure of their territory. The laws of a number of constituent entities of the Russian Federation establish that the boundaries of municipalities may not coincide with the boundaries of administrative-territorial units. In turn, both types of these boundaries may or may not coincide with the boundaries of settlements.

So, according to paragraph 1 of article 8 of the Law Voronezh region“On the administrative-territorial structure of the Voronezh region and the procedure for changing it” dated October 27, 2006, the boundaries of the administrative-territorial units of an urban district, urban settlement may not coincide with the boundaries of the territorial units of a city or urban-type settlement. Based on Article 2 of the Law Rostov region"On the administrative-territorial structure of the Rostov region" dated July 25, 2005 No. 340-ЗС (as amended on January 14, 2008), an administrative-territorial unit is an urban district or municipal district within the boundaries and with the name established by the -the relevant regional law on the establishment of boundaries and the granting of the status of a municipality.

Accordingly, one of the principles of the administrative-territorial structure is the coincidence of the boundaries and names of administrative-territorial entities, administrative-territorial units and the boundaries and names of the respective municipalities.

Since the administrative-territorial structure is assigned to the jurisdiction of the subjects of the Russian Federation in the regions, there are different approaches to the definition of the concept of "settlement". In the laws of some constituent entities of the Russian Federation, a populated area is understood as “a part of the territory that has a concentrated development within the established border and serves as a permanent place of residence for the population.” In the laws of other subjects of the Russian Federation, a settlement is a part of a populated territory of an administrative-territorial unit that has concentrated development and serves as a permanent (including seasonal) place of residence for urban and rural residents.

In the third group of regions (Astrakhan region), a settlement is understood as a territory with concentrated development, serving as a place of residence for people, which was given a name in accordance with the procedure established by federal legislation, and assigned in accordance with Federal Law No. 152-FZ of December 18, 1997 " On the names of geographical objects” to geographical objects.

Thus, most of the laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, when defining settlements, pay attention to two of their main features: territory and population. Previously, among such signs, additional attention was paid to the specialization of the activities of the majority of the population.

Until recently, there was a conflict situation in the legislation caused by the use of terminology, in which different federal laws invested unequal meanings. The fact is that the Land Code of the Russian Federation used the term “land of settlements” to designate a category of land, and the Federal Law “On the General Principles of Organization of Local Self-Government in the Russian Federation” under “settlement” understood a variety of municipalities, which included both the lands of settlements proper , and land of other categories located within the boundaries of such municipalities.

Clarity in the use of this terminology was introduced only after the entry into force on January 1, 2007 of a federal law that changed a number of norms of the Land Code of the Russian Federation and renamed “land of settlements” into “land of settlements”. Therefore, according to Art. 83 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation, lands of settlements are lands used and intended for the construction and development of settlements.

From this definition, it remains unclear what a “settlement” is, as well as what is the unified classification of settlements into types. According to Art. 131 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, local self-government is carried out in urban, rural settlements and other territories, taking into account historical and other local traditions. The named constitutional position is concretized by Art. 2 of the Federal Law “On the General Principles of Organization of Local Self-Government in the Russian Federation” dated October 6, 2003, which subdivides municipalities into an urban or rural settlement, a municipal district, an urban district and an intra-urban territory of a city of federal significance.

Insofar as unified approach to the classification of settlements in the laws of the Russian Federation is absent, let's try to formulate our own scientific classification of settlements into types on the following grounds.

First, in terms of population. Such a classification is carried out by the Federal Law “On the Enactment of the Land Code of the Russian Federation”, establishing a different redemption price for land in settlements with different populations (Article 2).

In addition, according to Article 11 of the Federal Law “On the General Principles of Organization of Local Self-Government in the Russian Federation” dated October 6, 2003, the territory of a rural settlement may, as a rule, include one rural settlement or settlement with a population of more than 1000 people (for a territory with a high population density - more than 3,000 people) and (or) several rural settlements united by a common territory with a population of less than 1,000 people each (for a territory with a high population density - less than 3,000 people each).

Consequently, the presence of the specified number of inhabitants is the basis for the formation of a separate municipality with all the ensuing legal consequences (including land law).

Secondly, depending on the significance of the settlement in the management system, the federal and regional legislators distinguish between cities of federal significance (Moscow and St. Petersburg), regional (republican, regional, regional, etc.) significance, cities of regional significance, urban-type settlements , rural settlements.

Accommodation in the last of specified species settlements gives citizens a number of benefits. So, according to paragraph 5 of Article 55 of the Federal Law of January 13, 1996 No. 12-FZ “On Amendments and Additions to the Law of the Russian Federation “On Education” (as amended on December 1, 2007), teaching staff educational institutions enjoy the right to receive a pension for years of service until they reach retirement age, to a free living space with heating and lighting rural areas, workers' settlements (urban-type settlements).

In accordance with Article 350 Labor Code Russian Federation, medical workers of healthcare organizations living and working in rural areas and in urban-type settlements, the duration of part-time work may be increased by decision of the Government of the Russian Federation, adopted taking into account the opinion of the relevant all-Russian trade union and the all-Russian association of employers.

Thirdly, settlements differ based on the presence on their territory of specific environmental factors. Thus, there are a number of features of the legal status of settlements located within the boundaries of the ecological resort region of the Caucasian Mineralnye Vody(Pyatigorsk, Kislovodsk), within the federal resort region of Anapa, settlements located on the territory of nature reserves and national parks. There are a number of features of the legal status of cities and villages located in the zone of ecological disaster, in the zone of protective measures around the storage facility chemical weapons etc.

Fourthly, based on the main research and production or other specialization of the settlement, one can single out “science cities”; urban and rural settlements located within the boundaries of the territory of closed administrative-territorial entities (for example, the city of Zaozersk Murmansk region, Lokomotivny settlement Chelyabinsk region), settlements - the location of the gambling business, etc.

As we have already noted above, the existing regional practice shows that in some cases the boundaries of a settlement and the boundaries of a municipality coincide; in other cases (and these are the majority), the composition of the municipality includes the actual settlement (points) and other territories adjacent to them. The latter situation follows from Article 11 of the Federal Law "On the General Principles of Organization of Local Self-Government in the Russian Federation", according to which the territory of an urban settlement may include one city or one village, and also in accordance with master plan urban settlement territories intended for the development of its social, transport and other infrastructure (including the territories of settlements and rural settlements that are not municipalities). We observe a similar situation in the case of urban districts.

This approach is partly a consequence of the construction of a metropolitan city (urban agglomeration) that has long been developed in urban planning science. The need for its development is due to the fact that the creation of an urban agglomeration allows more rational use of available land for more modern form settlements, as well as to solve the problem of integrated planning of city centers and their suburban areas, to raise the architectural and planning organization of industrial and territorial complexes, work, life and recreation of the population living in them to a qualitatively new level. Therefore, this category is necessary to improve urban planning for the development of territories.

One of the first in Russian legal science on the problems of formation of the considered new legal category drew the attention of G.V. Vypkhanova. In her opinion, an urban agglomeration is a complex natural-socio-economic system that includes “territorially and functionally interconnected, legally independent settlements (urban and rural), united around one or several large cities, within which a legally regulated complex arises. public relations".

Taking into account the modern urban planning legislation, there is a need for further development of this legal structure. We propose the following regulatory definition: “agglomeration is a set of territories of municipalities adjacent to a city of federal significance or the administrative center of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, intended by territorial planning documents of constituent entities of the Russian Federation to expand the capital of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation and constituting with it a single economic, recreational and other space.”

At the same time, it should be emphasized that an agglomeration is not just a city with suburbs (urban district), but a somewhat different qualitative state of planning for the development of a city of federal significance or a regional (territorial, republican) center. The legal consolidation of an effective urban agglomeration around such cities, with the accompanying bringing their infrastructure to the standards of European cities, is the most important prerequisite for successful socio-economic development.

In the future, such agglomerations should take advantage of their geographical position on transport routes between different parts of the country, as well as between foreign countries. At the same time, the development of doctrinal ideas and normative consolidation of this legal category will inevitably lead to a discussion of the territorial relationship (and legal status) of the agglomeration and the suburban zone. There are debatable issues here.

So, L.V. Ovchinnikova believes that “when establishing the boundaries of the territory of the municipality, it is necessary to resolve the contradiction that develops in the legislation when determining the regime of the suburban zone. If this zone (according to Article 86 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation) includes lands that are outside the boundaries of urban settlements and are not part of the lands of other settlements (that is, on an inter-settlement territory - outside the boundaries of settlements), then: a) it is difficult to find such territory, especially in a densely populated federal district; b) the management of the suburban area will be carried out exclusively "from above", without taking into account the interests of citizens living in the territory. It is proposed (along with the land concept of "suburban zone") to restore the status of a suburban municipality that has a common border with the city.

In our opinion, in this case attention should be paid to the following circumstances. First, within the borders, for example, of the Southern federal district with a high level of urbanization, indeed the suburban area is quite well populated. However, in the light of Article 11 of the Federal Law "On the General Principles of Organization of Local Self-Government in the Russian Federation", the suburban area is not at all an inter-settlement area. As follows from this article, the territory of the subject of the Russian Federation is delimited between settlements.

Territories with a low rural population density may not be included in the territory of settlements. Such territories with a low population density are inter-settlement areas, being "directly" part of municipal districts. Secondly, the "suburban area" can either be part of the city district, or be outside its boundaries. In the first case, there are general rules for taking into account the opinion of the population when making decisions, for example, on changing the boundaries of municipalities, and such opinion of the population is taken into account in accordance with existing procedures.

If the "suburban zone" is not included in the boundaries of the urban district, then it is located on the territory of other municipalities, and it is very difficult to manage it "exclusively from above". At the same time, in last case we are just observing a set of "suburban municipalities that have a common border with the city." In this case, the concept of "agglomeration" is needed.

So, the Constitution of the Russian Federation and a number of federal laws divide all settlements of Russia into urban and rural. However, there is another approach to the classification of settlements, implemented in the All-Russian classifier of objects of administrative-territorial division OK 019-95 (hereinafter OKATO), which entered into force on January 1, 1997. OKATO delimits settlements into three levels, highlighting cities (federal, regional (regional, republican) district subordination), urban-type settlements, rural settlements. As urban-type settlements, workers, resort and summer cottages stand out in it.

OKATO is designed to ensure the reliability, comparability and automated processing of information in the context of the administrative-territorial division in such areas as statistics, economics and others. It seems that OKATO performs a predominantly statistical function, since it is intended to fix the objectively existing administrative-territorial division, as well as the names and status of settlements and administrative-territorial units, established earlier on the basis of other legal acts, mainly of the Soviet period.

This approach to the classification of settlements until recently was widely used by land and tax legislation in the 90s of the last century. Thus, in articles 70 and 71 of the Land Code of the RSFSR of April 25, 1991, settlements were divided into cities, workers, resorts, summer cottages and rural settlements. The basis for the division of settlements into workers, resorts and summer cottages was, as noted in scientific papers, "the nature of the labor activity of the population and the number of inhabitants."

According to Article 6 of the Law of the Russian Federation "On payment for land" dated October 11, 1991, land tax for land plots within rural settlements and outside their limits, provided to citizens for conducting personal subsidiary plots, gardening, horticulture, animal husbandry, haymaking and grazing, was charged from the entire area of the land at average tax rates for agricultural land administrative area. Land tax cities, workers, resort and holiday villages was levied on all enterprises, organizations, institutions and citizens who own, own or use land plots at the rates established for urban lands(Article 7). The current tax legislation no longer provides for such differences.

Order of the Federal Agency for Real Estate Cadastre of June 29, 2007 No. P / 0152 “On Approval of Technical Recommendations for the State Cadastral Evaluation of Land in Settlements” identifies 27 types of settlements, including aul, settlements, town, dacha, resort village, township, microdistrict , planning area, siding, station, territory, ulus, etc. Without objecting in general to the variety of names of types of settlements, at the same time, we note that “microdistrict” or “planning area” as the name (type) of a settlement is an example of a not entirely successful approach. For example, a microdistrict, by definition, is only a part of a large settlement, for example, a city - a regional center.

In the laws of the subjects of the Russian Federation, the classification of settlements into a number of types is carried out today within the framework of the administrative-territorial structure. The legislation of most constituent entities of the Russian Federation currently distinguishes between cities (of regional (krai, republican) and district significance, or without such specification); workers' settlements (urban-type settlements), dacha and resort settlements; rural settlements (village, village, village, farm, rural settlement, etc.).

Under the laws of most constituent entities of the Russian Federation, an urban settlement is understood to mean a settlement, which, based on the size of the population, the nature of the occupation of the majority of its inhabitants, is classified as established by law order to the category of cities or workers, resort and holiday villages. So, for example, in Bryansk region An urban settlement is understood to mean a locality which, based on the size of the population, the nature of the occupation of the majority of its inhabitants, geographical, economic, historical and cultural significance, referred in the manner prescribed by law to the categories of cities or towns. Features are also noted legal status regional center.

Regional laws classify cities of regional significance as settlements that are economic and cultural centers, have a developed industry and a population of 25,000 or more. The status of cities of district significance can be assigned to urban settlements with a population of at least 12 thousand people, of which at least 85 percent must be workers, employees (members of their families), which are industrial and cultural centers.

Settlements with a population of at least 3,000 people, on the territory of which there are industrial enterprises, railway junctions, enterprises for processing agricultural products and other economically important facilities, and with a share of non-agricultural employment of at least 85 percent of the working population .

Resort villages - settlements located in areas of medical importance, with a population of at least two thousand people, provided that the number of people who annually come to these settlements for treatment and recreation is at least 50 percent of the permanently resident population. Dacha settlements are settlements, the main purpose of which is to serve the population of cities as places for summer recreation.

By general rule, holiday villages do not lose their character if part of the population lives permanently in them. Due to the small population, sometimes such settlements are not included in the lists of settlements of the municipality, which entails a number of serious civil legal consequences (for example, denial of state registration of rights to land plots, as happened with one of the owners of the land plot in dacha settlement of the Old Bolsheviks of the Naro-Fominsk region).

A rural settlement is a village, village, aul, farm and other settlement located in a rural area, which is not classified as an urban settlement, and whose inhabitants are mainly engaged in agricultural production. In a number of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the following gradation of such settlements has been carried out: a settlement is a large, large and medium-sized rural settlement; village - a large, medium and small rural settlement; railway station village - a large, large and medium-sized rural settlement located near a railway station; farm - medium and small rural settlement. Large is a rural settlement with a population of more than 3,000 people, large - from 1,000 to 3,000 people, medium - from 200 to 1,000 people, small - less than 200 people.

The laws of a number of subjects of the Russian Federation emphasize that in individual cases the category of cities of regional and district significance, workers, resorts and holiday villages can include settlements with a smaller population, which are of great socio-economic importance, the prospect of further economic development and population growth. The procedure for classifying settlements as urban and rural, their transformation from one category of settlements to another, or any other change in their status is determined by the law of the subject of the Russian Federation on the basis of territorial planning documents of the subject of the Russian Federation and municipalities. The laws of a number of constituent entities of the Russian Federation provide for the grounds and procedure for changing the status of a settlement due to a change in population.

The assignment of settlements to the category of cities of regional and district significance or settlements is carried out by the representative authority of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation. Thus, in the Volgograd region, these decisions are made by the Volgograd regional Duma on the conclusion of the head of the administration of the Volgograd region on the basis of proposals from state bodies and (or) representative bodies of municipalities. Changing the status of settlements and rural settlements is also carried out through the adoption of resolutions of the Volgograd Regional Duma.

Thus, the legislation of the subjects of the Russian Federation largely adopted the structure and criteria for dividing settlements into cities (of regional and district significance), workers, resort and summer cottages, and rural settlements that existed back in the USSR in the USSR. Note that back in the 1920s, Soviet land legislation divided all settlements into two categories: urban settlements and rural settlements. This classification excluded workers, resorts and holiday villages, the legal status of which was determined by special provisions. However, if we analyze the legal acts on the status of a working settlement, a dacha settlement, a resort settlement, we can find only slight differences in the legal regime in terms of planning and building features. Otherwise, their legal status did not differ.

As indicated in the named legal acts, lands were allocated to all three types of settlements on common grounds in accordance with the generally established procedure, and land relations in summer cottages, workers, resort settlements were regulated on the basis of the Regulations on land regulations in cities. Attention was also drawn to this circumstance in the legal literature, where, in particular, it was noted that "legislative acts do not distinguish between urban-type settlements and workers' settlements", and in a number of cases "the legislation of many Union republics classifies resort settlements as urban". Thus, initially the legislator equated the status of a worker, resort and holiday village with the status of an urban settlement and did not distinguish significant differences between the legal regime of a city and a worker, holiday, resort village.

A separate normative act formulated the grounds and procedure for classifying settlements as cities (of regional, regional, republican subordination and local importance), workers and resort settlements. For example, settlements at large factories, mines, mines, power plants, railway stations, construction of large hydraulic structures and other economically important facilities with a population of at least 3 thousand people, if this population includes at least 85% of workers, employees and members of their families.

The laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation adopted these norms, in most cases verbatim, despite the fact that the socio-economic, state-political situation in the country has fundamentally changed. In our opinion, the placement of settlements as part of rural settlements, implemented in a number of laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, deserves support, however, it is difficult to agree with the division of settlements as a category of settlements into two parts - into workers, resorts (and in a number of regions also dachas) and settlements. classified as rural settlements. The division of settlements into types seems redundant. Otherwise, it becomes necessary to reflect, through the introduction of new names of settlements, the modern realities of the formation of places of compact residence of citizens in the suburbs - cottage settlements, etc.

Meanwhile, objectively, there are certain legal differences, on the one hand, in the status of a city, and on the other hand, in the status of a settlement and a rural settlement. First, the fundamental difference lies in the fact that cities, as a rule, are independent municipalities (or several municipalities have been created on the territory of the city - intracity territories). They are representative and executive bodies local self-government of the city has the right to independently dispose of municipal property in accordance with applicable law, including land property.

At the same time, settlements and rural settlements are usually not independent municipalities, but are part of rural settlements as municipalities, administratively subordinate to the head of the local self-government body and do not, for example, have their own budget, municipal property, etc.

So, according to Art. 6 of the Charter of the Volgograd region, on its territory there are 6 cities of regional significance and 33 administrative district, including cities of district significance, village councils and other territorial units. Settlements and rural settlements located in these areas are not municipalities, but are independent settlements.

It seems that one locality cannot be part of another - in this case, its legal status changes. However, federal, regional and municipal regulations are not always consistent with this conclusion. According to Article 2 of the Law of St. Petersburg dated June 7, 2005 No. 237-ZO "On the organization of local self-government in St. Petersburg", the intracity municipality of St. Petersburg is part of the territory of the federal city of St. Petersburg ( municipal district, city, settlement), within the boundaries of which local self-government is exercised by the population directly and (or) through elected bodies of local self-government. Thus, the composition of the city of federal significance includes some other cities and towns.

Similar examples can be given for other subjects of the Russian Federation. Meanwhile, in our opinion, the identification of the concepts of a microdistrict and a settlement is not permissible. It seems logical that if a village or a settlement is included in the boundaries of a city, it should change its legal status and become a street, microdistrict or other administrative part of the city. Therefore, the boundaries of administrative-territorial units (i.e., the boundaries of cities of regional, regional, republican significance) and the boundaries of the corresponding municipalities should coincide, which will prevent the terminological confusion that exists today, in terms of the possibility of finding one settlement within another.

At the same time, it seems reasonable to take into account the historical and cultural traditions on the territory of an urban district or other municipality associated with the names of individual localities that are part of it. For example, on the territory of the city of Volgograd, there are several “settlements” that are administratively part of the corresponding districts of the city, but are traditionally referred to by residents and local authorities as settlements, for example, Nizhny Settlement (on the territory of the Traktorozavodsky District) or the settlement named after. M. Gorky (part of the Soviet district of the city of Volgograd).

A number of authors distinguish, in addition, such settlements as Metallurgov (Krasnooktyabrsky district), Nizhnyaya Elshanka, Kuporosny (Sovetsky district), Beketovka (Kirov district) and others. This name "settlements" was given at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, when the center of the city of Tsaritsyno was intensively developing, and places of resettlement of workers were formed on the outskirts. These names, of course, are of historical and cultural value, which can be reflected in the names of city transport stops, but the indication in regulatory legal acts of such a division of the city seems unreasonable.

Significant differences in the legal regime of lands of cities, towns and rural settlements lie in different land tax rates for land plots of the same size and quality located in cities (towns) and rural settlements (due to their different cadastral value, as a percentage of which land tax is calculated), which is due to purely economic reasons.

Thus, the status of the settlement and the division of settlements into workers, resorts and summer cottages is controversial. The legislator of the Federation and the subject of the Russian Federation in some cases equates settlements with cities, in other cases - with rural settlements. There are also no fundamental legal differences between various subspecies of urban-type settlements - workers, resort and summer cottages, for example, in terms of the grounds for acquiring and terminating rights to land plots, turnover of land plots, land protection, etc. At the same time, the validity of the very division of settlements into categories of urban and rural should be recognized.

In some cases, the federal legislator directly addresses legal norms to specific types of settlements. Thus, the Law of the Russian Federation "On the status of Heroes of the Soviet Union, Heroes of the Russian Federation and full cavaliers Order of Glory” dated January 15, 1993 provides for free receipt by the named categories of citizens of land plots of 0.20 hectares in cities and urban-type settlements and 0.40 hectares in rural areas. Normative acts delimiting the legal status of urban and rural settlements have been adopted not only at the federal level, but also in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

In this regard, the division of settlements into urban and rural seems to be justified by a certain specificity of land use in them. If in cities main goal land use is the placement of industrial, residential, cultural, public and business and other similar facilities, then in rural areas the main goal is the rational placement of household plots, areas for grazing livestock, as well as agricultural production within the boundaries of rural settlements.

Therefore, the legislation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation should take into account the specifics of land use in urban and rural settlements when developing documents for territorial planning and urban planning zoning, in particular, in order to ensure that, when allocating land plots, their maximum (limit) sizes for agricultural use in urban and rural settlements differed significantly in favor of rural.

Summing up, we formulate the modern scientific legal definition settlements and lands of settlements.

Locality- a part of the territory of Russia that has a name, concentrated development and serves as a place of residence for people, subdivided into urban and rural settlements.

Lands of settlements- category of land in land fund Russia, which is the spatial and operational basis for the placement of residential, industrial, public and business, recreational and other life support facilities of the population in accordance with the requirements of urban planning, environmental and land legislation, separated established boundaries from land of other categories.

According to the All-Russian classifier of territories of municipalities (OKTMO), there are more than 155 thousand different settlements in Russia. Settlements are separate administrative units that involve the settlement of people within a built-up area. An important condition the designation of such a territory as a settlement is the permanence of residence on it, albeit not throughout the year, but during the seasonal period.

Problems of defining and comparing settlements

For an uninitiated person, all settlements are divided into cities and villages. However, their classification is much more diverse. AT modern world it is difficult to independently understand all the intricacies of the distribution between the territories. The boundaries of cities, as they expand, create new areas, are blurred, absorbing adjacent villages. What yesterday was part of another region, today is subject to new administrative centers.

Nevertheless, the classification concerning the division of populated and equipped territories according to the principle "city / village" is the most common not only in our country, but throughout the world. The complexity of choosing criteria is due to various factors, this is especially clearly seen in sparsely populated areas.

What is a city?

The city is much easier to define. Such settlements are the largest settlements of people within a single territory. At the same time, a city is a settlement, the population of which is not employed in agriculture and industries related to it. Typical urban occupations are industry, trade, science, and culture. In addition, such administrative units have their own distinctive, purely individual features.

What makes a city stand out, what makes it special?

Most often this high density population of people. On average, this number exceeds several tens of thousands per square kilometer. To provide all people with housing, it is necessary to create special housing, which is also typical for the city. Urban architecture in last years has a tendency to search for new opportunities in order to fit the maximum possible number residential premises. Thus, cities grow not only in breadth, but also upwards.

Urban settlements are also the concentration of the cultural, political, legal life of a country or a separate region. Most often this is due to the fact that it is in the city that the administrative and economic hub of a certain region is located. This contributes to the creation of a certain center that collects the best specialists, technology, institutions and resources.

Is urbanization as good as it seems at first glance?

The concentration of opportunities in one place leads to what the authorities are trying to fight, but, perhaps, so far without success. This is a rapid decline in the number of the population. This happens for various reasons - a high death rate, despite the fact that the birth rate is very low. The outflow of young people to cities also provokes a lack of work, a cultural environment, places of recreation, a low standard of living and an absolutely destroyed infrastructure.

Differences of cities, their types by the number of inhabitants

City city discord. The distance between settlements belonging to cities can be several tens and hundreds of kilometers. This uneven urbanization is especially clear in such a large country as Russia. And if in the Northwest, Central regions about 80% of the population lives in large settlements, then in Altai, Ingushetia, Kalmykia - no more than 40%.

The life of some citizens revolves around industrial area, others are focused on administrative matters, there are so-called military camps. The main area of activity of such settlements is the maintenance of the close proximity from the city of the military unit. Such settlements are most often settlements closed type, their inhabitants are recorded not in hundreds and tens, but in units.

However, the share of cities among the total number of settlements is not so high. About 75% of the total population of the country lives in cities (this trend is common throughout the world), but their number in relation to villages is many times less. For example, according to the data state register, in the Russian Federation there are a little more than a thousand, at the same time, the total number of villages and villages exceeds a hundred thousand.

Division of villages by type

Rural settlements are very difficult to classify. Settling in different regions of the country took place in different ways. Historically, some areas, due to their proximity to trade routes, natural resources, industrial enterprises are more densely populated. The distance between settlements in these regions is small. The districts are clearly divided, and each has its own structure, subordination to the center, management hierarchy.

In general, it can be divided according to two main features - the number of people living and the scope of employment.

My village, I'm proud of you!

A village is not always a small settlement with a dozen households. Places where functioning enterprises are located, agriculture is developed, can have up to 10 thousand people. Such villages are equipped good roads, own educational, cultural, medical institutions, post office and retail outlets. Most often, this is an economically developed area, the settlement of which belongs to it and is not in an abandoned state, in the future it can claim to be even larger.

Since the classification of settlements depending on the number of people living in them is not legally fixed in Russia, it happens that villages can be larger than small towns.

Differences between a village and a village

The boundaries of settlements that fall under the definition of "village" are very small. Most often they do not go beyond one or two dozen households, and the total number of inhabitants does not exceed several hundred. In such places, the life of people is not very well established. The nearest shops, feldsher points can be located at a distance of several kilometers. At the same time, such settlements often lack elementary conditions for life - mobile communications, the Internet, gas, normal transport interchanges. The state is really trying to improve life in the most remote corners of the country, but the main problem remains the outflow of young people from the villages. Thus, over the past few decades, according to the state register, 14 settlements have received the status of "former settlement" due to the absolute departure of residents.

What is a farm?

One of the smallest formations that fall under the status of individual villages are farms. Most often, this is a remote group of houses or even one yard. People in them have land, livestock. They may be busy in the forest, water management, cultivate agricultural land. There may sometimes not be a great distance between settlements of larger sizes and a farm. They can be located across the forest, the river, united by one road, but still being different administrative units.

In addition, there are many other types of settlements that specialize in certain activities. For example, dacha cooperatives, resort towns, sanatoriums, forestries, railway stations and even roadblocks.

There are also settlements characteristic of some nationalities, reflecting the mentality and culture historical territory(village, ulus, somon, village).