Regional and Local Settlement Areas (with particular reference to the Leningrad regional and Pskov local settlement areas)

Past Soviet attempts to define settlement areas have focused either on urban or on rural population areas. An attempt is made here to define combined urban and rural settlement areas, with particular reference to the Northwest Region, centered on Leningrad. A regional settlement area (centered on Leningrad) and a number of local settlement areas, centered on major cities, are differentiated, with so-called zones of disseminated settlement situated outside the limits of the local areas. The local settlement area of Pskov is discussed in detail, with a breakdown into three concentric zones based on the intensity of linkages with the central city.