Analysis of the main geographicаl studies of the role of the "second town" and "competitor town" in the region

Studies of towns are sufficiently extensive. Nevertheless, despite the stated, the study of towns at meso- and macro levels is often reduced to the study of any group of settlements, united by one feature.The growth of the number of towns and their population also leads to the emergence of new powerful centers in countries and regions, which become competi- tors for the old ones. Studies devoted to these towns and their role in the national economic activity of the territory began to appear in geography and other disciplines.There are no common criteria for singling out "second towns" and "competitortowns". Different researchers base on different parameters from which a group of studied towns is formed. "Competitor towns" are extremely heterogeneous. The only common feature is non-center status. Many "competitor towns" that occupy a prominent place in the region are large industrial centers.The works considered differ from each other in time of their origin, depth of study, features of the vision of the problem, terminology. At the same time, they complement each other and help in solving research problems in this field.