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Спрол в России: рост и структурная трансформация пригородов Белгорода
Belgorod is one of the earliest and most prominent examples of the development of Western-style suburbanization in post-Soviet Russia. Based on the analysis of satellite images’ time-series, we traced dynamics of Belgorod suburbia development, and determined factors of its localization. We propose a method to interpret types of suburban settlement patterns (e.g. a system of the elements’ interpretation) and identified main shortcomings. A key feature of the rapid suburbanization of Belgorod during the post-Soviet period was the formation of extensive suburban sprawl areas, which are completely morphologically different from traditional seasonal (dachas) and rural single-story suburbs. Sprawl expansion on this territory occurred in two distinct waves, the first of which was induced by an influx of ethnic-Russian migrants from the near abroad, and the second coincided with the period of relatively high rates of economic development of Russia and Belgorod oblast in the 2000s and began to decline in early 2010. Growing systems of genetically related sprawling areas form tree-like graphs (due to the requirement for access to utilities and to the major transportation routes), the roots of which are the areas of high-rise buildings, and the leaves—younger “generations” of sprawling areas.