DEVELOPMENT OF RUSSIAN CITIES IN THE POST-SOVIET PERIOD: ANALYSIS OF THE DEVELOPMENT BASED ON THE INDEX OF COMFORT

<p>The bachelor&rsquo;s thesis is: &quot;Development of Russian cities in the post-Soviet period: analysis of the development based on the comfort index&quot;. It contains 1 figure, 5 tables and 9 applications. The research is 69 pages in volume, 51 sources were used. Keywords: comfort, welfare, urban development, the city, socio - economic statistics, the index method.</p><p>Russian cities today are the industrial past of the USSR and there is not enough of a comfortable stay for common people in such types of cities. It is impossible to create the right direction of development for the country without an improvement in living conditions, providing necessary material and spiritual environment for the citizens. Therefore, the urban development study in terms of the comfort living in the city is a vital topic for the research.</p><p>The purpose of this paper is to examine the level of Russian cities development in the post-Soviet period using the index of comfort.</p><p>The object of the research is the level of Russian cities development in the post-Soviet period.</p><p>The subject of the study is analysis of the Russian cities development level, which is based on an index of comfort.</p><p>The theoretical base for the research consists of approaches to classification and typology of Russian cities, especially the development of Russian cities in the post-Soviet period, the definition of &quot;comfort&quot;, and the basic theoretical principles of calculating the index.</p><p>Database of the &ldquo;Leontief centre&rdquo;, including 17000 observations by 153 cities of Russia for the period from 2003 to 2010 year, is used to calculate the comfort index, using it to create the cities classification and evaluate strengths and weaknesses of the cities.</p><p>The research consists of an introduction, three chapters, conclusion, bibliography and appendices.</p><p>The first chapter is devoted to the study of theoretical approaches to the development of cities in Russia, including a consideration of the various typologies and classifications, and the review about the Russian cities after the collapse of the USSR.</p><p>The second chapter examines the concept of &quot;comfort&quot; as the parameter characterizing the level of socio-economic development of cities, and analyzes approaches to the assessment of &quot;comfort&quot; residence.</p><p>The third chapter is devoted to the practical application of the comfort index and identifies its relationship with the level of the Russian cities.</p><p>The findings suggest that comfort of the city plays an important role in the development of cities. It is argued that in addition to functional, economical features, which influence the development of city, comfort or well-being also will play an important role in the shape of cities.&nbsp;</p>