Influence of Various Factors on a Significance of Central Business District in Russian Vities

The central business district (CBD) of a city, while a theoretical construct, nevertheless plays an important role in the development of each individual city. By its significance one can indirectly judge the uniformity of development of the city territory. The main idea of the work was to identify factors influencing the significance of the CBD. An empirical test of the price-area relationship (a consequence of Alonso’s model) was carried out using data from 25 Russian cities. The information base was the websites of Avito, Rosstat, Official websites of the cities selected for analysis, Yandex Maps, 2GIS. The analysis methodology required dividing the territory of cities into ring zones according to transport accessibility of the center and collecting data on housing prices by zone. It was found that the “price-area” relationship is not satisfied for Yalta, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Next, 13 factors are identified that, according to the authors, influence the development of intracity space. It is shown that the presence of a sea, a state border and a transport hub increase the importance of the CBD. At the same time, the presence of the federal city effect and the situation when the city is not the capital of the region reduce the significance of the CBD. The next stage was the analysis of the functions of cities: in order to smooth out the uneven development of urban areas (with the high role of the central district), it is necessary to identify relatively deficient functions and give priority in development to these particular urban infrastructure objects. An analysis of market demand for 16 types of public facilities, as well as a systematization of planned investment projects in the cities under consideration showed that in Norilsk it is necessary to design and create new healthcare and commercial facilities. The results obtained can be used to draw up master plans for urban development.