Conceptual Framework for the Organization of Rural Areas: A Study Based on the Identification of Agglomeration Patterns

Introduction. In recent years, the concept of Russian rural development has been designed, which include the organization of rural agglomerations and key settlements. This concept is being implemented within the administrative boundaries of municipal and urban districts. However, it is not expected to completely solve the problems of rural development. Therefore, it has become relevant to explore alternative options for organizing the territorial structure and justifying new objects for managing rural development processes. The purpose of this article is to propose a conceptual approach to the formation of agglomerated groups of settlements based on the zoning and socio-economic profiling of rural and non-urbanized areas. Materials and Methods. The study was conducted using the example of municipalities in the Voronezh Region. Approximately 40 % of these municipalities population live in rural or non-urbanized areas (data from 2018‒2022). To model the settlement structure of the region, we used the zoning method, which involves the construction of a minimum spanning tree. The region was divided into clusters using the SKATER algorithm. These clusters are considered prototypes of potential “rural subregions”, which are rational agglomerations that unite settlements from several administrative districts. The calculations were carried out using the GeoDa 1.22 software. Results. The zoning of rural and non-urban areas in the Voronezh Region has been carried out based on options that involve strict and non-strict compliance with the official lists of rural agglomerations and key settlements. Based on clustering results, eight potential rural sub-regions with similar socio-economic potential have been identified and profiled for each option. These subregions have the potential to form a multi-tiered system of public services based on several core locations. Discussion and Conclusion. A comparison of the zoning options revealed the advantage of the spatial structure of the second option. In the initial conditions, it is assumed that several settlements with a population more than 50 000 inhabitants and suburban areas will be allowed to cluster together. The developed methodology can serve as a basis for further research on the economic space of agglomeration structures in rural and non-urban areas. The results of this study may be useful for the development of strategies and programs for socio-economic development at the regional and municipal levels.