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General Information


Moscow - first records date back to 1147 - is the capital of the Russian Federation. It is from here that in the Middle Ages the process of "collecting Russian countries" started, that is the concentration process which led to the rise of the Moscow state, and - after the conquest of the Tartar Chanates on the Volga in the 16th century - eventually to the formation of the Russian Empire. In 1712 Moscow lost its function as the capital city to St. Petersburg but regained it in 1918. During the Soviet regime (1918-1991) the city was systematically developed. Today, Moscow occupies an area of 994 km2; it had about 10.1 mio. inhabitants according to the October 2002 census. The present-day structure shows in an almost ideal form a radial concentric layout plan with the Kremlin at its centre. This goes to a large extent back to historic road design and was determined in a regulated form in Stalin's town planning during the mid-thirties to be subsequently extended again and again. The present-day multi-lane motorway ring had been the exterior border from 1961 to the 1980s und comprised a territory of 886 km2.

The present-day development of Moscow is characterized by the consequences of transition and by certain effects of globalization: In the city centre new functions (high-class retail businesses, offices) and gentrification dislocate the former population. New residential buildings, mostly as gated communities, are being built in preferred locations for a new upper middle class, which also settles in a broad belt of individual houses and datchas in the vicinity of the city. Modern office buildings create new landmarks in the city skyline. The most ambitious project at present is Moscow-City, an office and exhibition compound in the Western city centre with an envisaged capacity of about 2.5 mio. m2 space for offices, hotels, residential facilities, leisure activities etc. Public transport is above all ensured by an efficient metro network which will be further extended. In recent years the individual traffic has increased considerably so that even the broad roads of the Soviet era can hardly accommodate it any more. At present an intra-urban motorway, the so called Third Ring, is being built. Moscow is the dominant centre for Russia: 80% of banking investments and capital flows concentrate here; the leading universities and technical colleges train skilled personnel. It is true, however, that the relative economic weakness of the state, the existence of a nation-wide hinterland and some structures inherited from the Soviet era impede a stronger involvement in globalization processes.

Jörg Stadelbauer
Institute of Cultural Geography
University of Freiburg


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