Migration from Small Towns: The Problem of Rootedness and Anchors of Entrenchment

The article analyzes the social sources and factors of centripetal migration from small towns in Russia. The study was carried out in the town of Gorodets, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, as a fairly typical representative of this category of settlements, largely represented by the centers of municipalities. Gorodets is a city of regional significance, the center of a municipal district; it is populated by about 30,000 residents. This dimension contributes to the formation and sustainable functioning of the local territorial community. Gorodets has a certain socio-cultural tradition that distinguishes it from a number of "classmate" cities and is characterized by an established activity landscape. In the context of these features, the processes of city development, including the nature of interaction in relation to the state of the aggregate human capital of a small town, are more clearly manifested. The rent and unequal nature of these relations are noted. The possibility to apply here research optics with higher resolution makes it particularly interesting for analysis, to highlight universal, characteristic, not only for Gorodets, but also for other small towns, factors of rejection and rooting of residents. The work is based on the results of an expert survey of key actors of territorial development of the city: representatives of the authorities, NGOs, and the business community, conducted in December 2023 – January 2024. The purpose of the study was to identify the main factors that influence centripetal migration and push people out of the territory of origin and to determine the anchors for their anchoring in a small town. The article considers rootedness as a degree of inclusion in the local community and one of the forms of urban identity as one of the key factors determining the anchoring of people in the territory of a small town.