Spatial localization of economic activity in Russia: structural changes in large regions

The article is devoted to the problem of imbalance in the Russian economic space. The purpose of the study is to analyze the dynamics of the spatial localization of economic activity on the basis of a statistical set of indicators of the development of the federal districts of the Russian Federation (macroregions) for the period 1998-2020. with a fragmentary description of their sectoral, socio-economic and geo-economic specifics. The results demonstrate the strengthening of the center-peripheral processes. The increasing importance of the project approach in the spatial development of the country is shown. The Russian economic space, along with a high level of polarization, is largely disintegrated and fragmented. Steady migration processes to the most developed regions and agglomerations exacerbate the degradation of peripheral territories. The priority directions of the state policy of spatial changes are outlined, which provide for the implementation of a set of measures to smooth out the objective contradictions of the current regional polarization.