Urban environment quality and its impact on socio-economic development

Economic Annals-ХХI: Volume 180, Issue 11-12, Pages: 155-164

Citation information:
Polyakova, T., & Tsurik, T. (2019). Urban environment quality and its impact on socio-economic development. Economic Annals-XXI, 180(11-12), 155-164. doi: https://doi.org/10.21003/ea.V180-17

Tatyana Polyakova
PhD (Economics),
Associate Professor,
Department of Finance and Credit,
Faculty of Economics and Management,
Southwest State University
94, 50 Let Oktyabrya Str., Kursk, 305040, Russia
halfjack@list.ru
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2515-798X

Tatyana Tsurik
PhD (Cultural Studies),
Associate Professor,
Department of Architecture, Town Planning and Graphics,
Faculty of Construction and Architecture,
Southwest State University
94, 50 Let Oktyabrya Str., Kursk, 305040, Russia
TsurikTO@yandex.ru
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9767-3505

Urban environment quality and its impact on socio-economic development

Abstract. An important indicator of life quality, the urban environment, largely determines the comfort of life for the population and business. The state of post-socialist European cities testifies to the problems of the urban environment which have economic and social nature. The authors identify two groups of factors that determine urban environment quality and analyze advantages and disadvantages inherent in various methods of assessing it. The object of the analysis was a group of large Russian cities – regional capitals with the population from 250 thousand to 1 million people (except cities with extreme climate). Various indicators of the urban environment quality (2018-2019) and a number of indicators of socio-economic development (2013-2015, 2018) were taken into account.

The research is aimed at identifying the relationship between the parameters of socio-economic development of the city and the region with the urban environment quality. The dependence between the urban environment quality and the level of the city budget income per capita has been determined, which allowed us to divide the analyzed cities into groups.

Based on the results of our study, the recommendations have been formulated to address current urban issues and improve the living standards of citizens. The authors propose to use in post-socialist European countries an integrated urban quality assessment methodology that includes both objective methods based on statistical data and subjective methods derived from expert evaluations and population surveys and involving citizens in the urban debate.

Keywords: City; Urban Environment Quality; Urbanization; Urban Sustainability Factors; Urban Environment Quality Index; City Budget; Municipal Budget

JEL Classification: R58

Acknowledgments and Funding: We are grateful to the university management and the Rector of The Southwest State University (SWSU) for assistance in preparing this article

Contribution: Tatyana Polyakova has analyzed the relationship between the urban environment quality and indicators of socio-economic development; Tatyana Tsurik has carried out the analysis of problems of urban development in the post-socialist urbanization and ways to improve urban environment quality.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21003/ea.V180-17

References

1. Adams, D., & Tiesdell, S. (2012). Shaping Places: Urban Planning, Design and Development (1st edition). London: Routledge.
   doi: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203105665
2. Bonaiuto, M., Aiello, A., Perugini, M., Bonnes, M., & Ercolani, A. P. (1999). Multidimensional perception of residential environment quality and neighbourhood attachment in the urban environment. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 19(4), 331-352.
   doi: https://doi.org/10.1006/jevp.1999.0138
3. Bouton, S., Lindsay, M., & Woetzel, J. (2012). New models for sustainable growth in emerging-market cities. McKinsey on Sustainability & Resource Productivity, 1, 54-63.
   Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/dotcom/client_service/
   Sustainability/PDFs/McK%20on%20SRP/SRP_07_Cities.ashx
4. Budd, L. (1998). Territorial Competition and Globalization: Scylla and Charybdis of European Cities. Urban Studies, 35(4), 663-685.
   doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/0042098984691
5. Bystrova, T. Yu. (2014). Park Emscher: principles and techniques for the rehabilitation of industrial territories. Akademicheskiy Vestnik UralNIIproyekt (Academic Bulletin UralNIIproekt), 2, 9-14
   Retrieved from https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/park-emsher-printsipy-i-priemy-reabilitatsii-promyshlennyh-territoriy (in Russ.)
6. Center for Urban Economics «KB Strelka» (2017). Wealth and independence: what makes the city budget sustainable.
   Retrieved from http://citybudget.strelka-kb.com (in Russ.)
7. Domofond.ru (2018). Full rating of Russian cities by quality of life in 2018.
   Retrieved from https://www.domofond.ru/statya/polnyy_reyting_gorodov_rossii_po_kachestvu_zhizni_v_2018_godu/7679 (in Russ.)
8. Federal State Statistics Service (2018). Regions of Russia. Socio-economic indicators.
   Retrieved from https://gks.ru/bgd/regl/B18_14p/Main.htm (in Russ.)
9. Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation (2019). Research on the Quality of Life in the Russian Cities.
   Retrieved from http://www.fa.ru/News/2019-11-27-research.aspx (in Russ.)
10. Gorina, E. A., & Burdyak, A. Ya. (2015). Quality of life in big city through the urban environment perceptions. Sotsiologiya Goroda (Sociology of the City), 2, 11-31.
    Retrieved from https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=23602274 (in Russ.)
11. Ilyina, I. N. (2015). Quality of the urban environment as a factor of sustainable development of municipalities. Imushchestvennyye otnosheniya v Rossiyskoi Federatsii (Property Relations in the Russian Federation) 164(5), 69-82.
    Retrieved from https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/kachestvo-gorodskoy-sredy-kak-faktor-ustoychivogo-razvitiya-munitsipalnyh-obrazovaniy/viewer (in Russ.)
12. Institute of Territorial Planning «Urbanika» (2017, July 20). The spatial development strategy of the modern Russian city.
    Retrieved from http://urbanica.spb.ru/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Buklet_Po_Strategiam_20_07_Szhaty_2.pdf (in Russ.)
13. Jacobs, J. (1961). The Death and Life of Great American Cities.
    doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/794509f
14. Landry, Ch. (2008). The art of creating cities: quality of life and urban environment (Trans. from Eng.). Moscow: Art-Manager (in Russ.).
15. Lynch, K. (1982). The image of the city (Trans. from Eng.). Moscow: Stroyizdat.
    Retrieved from http://books.totalarch.com/image_of_the_city_kevin_lynch (in Russ.)
16. Makhrova, A. G., & Golubchikov, O. Yu. (2012). Russian city under capitalism: the social transformation of intracity. Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Ser. 5. Geografiya (Bulletin of Moscow University. Series 5. Geography), 2, 26-31
    Retrieved from https://publications.hse.ru/mirror/pubs/share/folder/001l7fhsnu/direct/193317029.pdf (in Russ.)
17. Mercer (2019). Quality of living city ranking.
    Retrieved from https://mobilityexchange.mercer.com/Insights/quality-of-living-rankings
18. Ministry of Construction, Housing and Utilities of the Russian Federation (2019). The urban environment quality index is a tool for evaluating the quality of the material urban environment and the conditions for its formation. The Quality Index of the Urban Environment.
    Retrieved from https://xn—-dtbcccdtsypabxk.xn--p1ai/# (in Russ.)
19. Moscow Urban Forum (2019). Official web-site.
    Retrieved from https://mosurbanforum.com/library
20. Nefedov, V. A. (2002). Landscaping and sustainability. St. Petersburg.
    Retrieved from http://books.totalarch.com/landscape_design_and_environmental_sustainability (in Russ.)
21. OECD (2014). How’s Life in Your Region? Measuring Regional and Local Well-being for Policy Making. Paris: OECD Publishing.
    doi: https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264217416-en
22. Pivovarov, Yu. L. (2001). Urbanization of Russia in the 20th Century: Representations and Reality. Obshchestvennyye Nauki i Sovremennost (Social Sciences and the Present), 6, 101-113.
    Retrieved from http://ecsocman.hse.ru/data/777/303/1218/008pIWOWAROWx20x60.l..pdf (in Russ.)
23. Polityka.pl (2018). Quality of Life Index.
    Retrieved from https://rankingmiast.polityka.pl (in Pol.)
24. Polyakova, T. N., & Tsurik, T. O. (2019). Socio-cultural aspects of industrial areas rehabilitation in urban environment. Izvestiya Yugo-zapadnogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya: Ekonomika. Sotsiologiya. Menedzhment (Southwest State University Bulletin. Series of Works: Economy. Sociology. Management), 32(3), 226-235.
    Retrieved from https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=39289897 (in Russ.)
25. Smith, N. (1996). The new urban frontier: Gentrification and the revanchist city. New-York: Routledge.
    Retrieved from http://rohcavamaintenant.free.fr/USB%20KEY%20Fahriye/k%C4%B1tap%20Neil%20
    Smith__The_New_Urban_Frontier__Gentrification_and_the_Revanchist_City.pdf
26. Swiss Federal Statistical Office (2016). City Statistics (Urban Audit): Quality of life in the cities 2016. Neuchâtel: Federal Statistical Office (FSO).
    Retrieved from https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/cross-sectional-topics/city-statistics.assetdetail.1401994.html
27. Sýkora, L., & Bouzarovski, S. (2012). Multiple transformations: Conceptualising the post-communist urban transition. Urban Studies, 49(1), 43-60.
    Retrieved from https://www.unipo.sk/public/media/16170/SykoraBouzarovski_2012_UrbanStudies_49_1_MultipleTransitions.pdf
28. Taubenböck, H., Gerten, C., Rusche K., Siedentop, S., & Wurm, M. (2019). Patterns of Eastern European urbanisation in the mirror of Western trends – Convergent, unique or hybrid. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 46(7), 1206-1225.
    doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/2399808319846902
29. UN-Habitat (2012). The Six Dimensions of Urban Prosperity.
    Retrieved from https://cpi.unhabitat.org/six-dimensions-urban-prosperity

Received 10.11.2019
Received in revised form 20.11.2019
Accepted 27.11.2019
Available online 30.12.2019