Spatial and Temporal Features of Population Settlement in the Coastal Areas of the Rostov Region

The article examines the spatial and temporal features of population settlement and its impact on the environment within the Azov-Lower Don coastal (coastal and riverine) areas of the Rostov region for the period between the 2010 and 2021 censuses, as well as the three subsequent years marked by the Special Military Operation in neighboring regions. In methodological terms, based on the works of researchers of “marine” socio-geographical issues, who summarized domestic and foreign experience in localizing the boundaries of the coastal zone, municipalities with direct access to the waters of the Azov Sea, the Tsimlyansk Reservoir and the Lower Don floodplain, and concentrating almost 2/3 of the regional population, are identified. Over the period under consideration, their total population increased by 2.7%. The coastal municipalities that are part of the Rostov agglomeration and directly adjacent to it were characterized by the highest population density in 2011–2024. An analysis of population density dynamics at the district and urban district levels yielded no new results, but confirmed trends noted by previous researchers. At the same time, examining population distribution dynamics at a “miniature” scale — at the level of rural and urban coastal settlements — revealed significant intra-district disparities, particularly the presence of municipalities most susceptible to depopulation and intense residential development. Internal disparities in population distribution have been recorded throughout the Azov-Lower Don coastal districts. The coronavirus pandemic has significantly impacted the intensity of suburbanization processes characteristic of Rostov-on-Don and Taganrog. The residential appeal of the region’s coastal rural settlements is determined by their proximity to the most economically and socially infrastructurally developed large cities and is virtually independent of natural-recreational, and environmental factors.

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