Urbanization level of the primary districts in central Russia

The article discusses the urbanization level of small territories. Level of urbanization is understood as a degree of urbanization process development achieved within particular territory by a certain moment. The territory of 16 non-capital regions of Central Russia, which includes the Central and Central Black Earth economic regions, is considered. The units of research are municipalities of the first level – municipal districts, referred to as primary districts in the paper. The total number of these districts is 383. A methodology for assessing the urbanization level is proposed, based on the combination of three parameters, namely the size (population) of the center of a primary district, the accessibility of key service centers, and the concentration of the population. The reduced (conditional) radius of the district territory is proposed as an indicator to measure the accessibility of centers. Concentration is characterized by the density of rural population. Based on the combination of these indicators, 7 classes of primary districts with varying levels of urbanization are identified. The distribution of different classes of primary districts and their representation in the regions of Central Russia are analyzed. A combination of parameters was also considered. In accordance with the governing factors four types of urbanization of primary districts are distinguished, i. e. complex, “from the center”, “from the district” and undefined.