Most people associate the word "satellite" with space and planets. However, this concept is also used in urban studies and town planning: satellite cities have emerged as a special class of settlements.
The main features of the satellite city
Satellites are cities or urban-type settlements that are adjacent to a larger settlement. If several satellites appear around a certain center, we are talking about an agglomeration.
Life in such cities has its own characteristics arising from the orientation towards a large center. Migration is observed among the population (labor, educational, pendulum), intensive and diverse ties arise between the main city and its satellite.
Geo-urban studies (the science of cities) refer to satellites absolutely all settlements that fall into the zone of influence of the city-center. The list is not limited to cities built according to satellite-specific designs.
For example, Moscow has one official satellite city - Zelenograd. In fact, many cities of the Moscow region, as well as settlements located on the borders of adjacent regions, can be considered satellites of the Russian capital.
Satellite cities in Russia
The transition to agglomerations in Russia led to the fact that quite a lot of people began to live in relatively small territories. Previously, this was not observed: there were separate leader cities in the country, which had their own zones of influence.
St. Petersburg can be considered an exception. This city was built simultaneously with fortresses, residences and industrial centers that were located next to it and were its satellites.
Satellite cities are a phenomenon that began to spread rapidly in the 20th century. Such settlements made it possible to more fully realize the potential of the leading centers, to solve their socio-economic and urban planning problems.
Large Russian cities have more than 350 other - small - cities in their zones of influence. Most of the satellites were built relatively recently. There are quite a few newly-built cities among them, but cities that have developed on the basis of rural settlements prevail.
According to statisticians, about a third of cities in Russia are located in the territories of influence of large centers. Only a few of the big cities do not have satellites: Khabarovsk, Omsk, Tyumen, Syktyvkar, Kurgan, Yoshkar-Ola, Ulan-Ude and some others.
Science cities have emerged as a separate type of satellite cities, the main difference of which is their high intellectual potential. Near the leading city, they have favorable conditions for development.
