Dynamics of students migration intentions as a response to the development of Volgograd agglomeration

The development of urban agglomerations is one of the leading modern urbanistic trends. In Russia this trend has a number of features: the “pumping” of resources, including human resources, between the agglomerations, and the rapid growth of a few agglomerations due to the degradation of the rest. Among them is the Volgograd agglomeration, which once claimed the role of the industrial, logistic and intellectual center of the South of Russia. In the context of considering this problem, the authors investigated the migration intentions of the most mobile part of the population, the student youth. The authors systematized scientific publications on the topic of research and carried out a comparative analysis of statistics from open sources and official statistics. These data were compared with the results of the monitoring of students opinions carried out by the authors in the period from 2012 to 2019. A total of 1 312 people were interviewed. The average age of respondents is 22-24 years. Analysis of students responses to the questionnaire showed that a significant part of the students would like to leave Volgograd. The volume of such answers in questionnaires grows year by year. Monitoring data revealed trends in the migration intentions of young people. According to the results of the poll, the main reasons for the intention of respondents to leave the Volgograd agglomeration are: the depressed state of the agglomeration economy and dissatisfaction with the quality of life. Comparison of the picture of students migration sentiments with Rosstat data on migration in Volgograd shows that the declared intentions of students coincide with reality. Young people from country areas of the region mainly come to Volgograd, and from the regional center they leave for other regions. The pace of development of the Volgograd agglomeration, low in comparison with other large agglomerations, leaves Volgograd little chance of improving the demographic situation in the coming years. The problem is so acute that it requires specific urgent actions and fundamental changes in the management systems of the city and urban agglomerations. The main goal of these actions should be to equalize the quality of life in the regions while adhering to the principle of diversifying regional development, taking into account the unique economic, cultural, and geographical characteristics of each agglomeration.