Concentration of economic activity in Moscow and Saint Petersburg: trends, factors, implications for the cities

The discussion of the strategy for spatial development of the Russian Federation has intensified the discussion about the role of the largest cities in the spatial development of the country, because despite the deep elaboration of the problem, there remain some issues that need to be discussed (on the limits of urban growth, their role in the development of industry, etc.). The article uses the data of the Unified Inter-Agency Information and Statistics System (EMISS) to analyze the scale and dynamics of population concentration and economic activity in the two largest Russian cities - Moscow and Saint Petersburg (for the first time special attention is paid to the complex types of services - the structureof production by type of economic activity “real estate transactions, rent and provision of services”), the drivers of such concentration and its implications for the socio-economic development of the cities. On the basis of the analysis, it is revealed that the key cities preserve their dominant role in the country's economy as centers of innovation (primarily centers of complex services) and become less important in simple services due to the decentralization of the latter, and due to the fact that the cities preserve their industrial functions. It is shown that the concentration of economic activity in the largest cities of the country is mainly the result of their objective advantages, but in Russia it is aggravated by the specific features of the federal policy. It is revealed that with the continuing concentration of the population in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, the trends of concentration of economic activity in them are multidirectional: Saint Petersburg continues to increase its role in the country's economy, and Moscow is losing it. Other problems of socio-economic development of the capital city are also shown: the slowdown in economic growth, the deterioration of the situation with the monetary incomes of the population, a significant stratification of the population by income, and reduced availability of housing. This situation is a challenge for the federal regional policy and requires the creation of conditions that would promote the emergence of comparable points of economic growth for the population outside the capital city and at the same time for solving the problems of Moscow itself, aimed at maintaining its sustainable socio-economic development, primarily for the use of its innovation potential.