On the basis of the multidisciplinary analysis the article explores the development of the regional centers of the European North (Vologda, Arkhangelsk, Petrozavodsk, Murmansk) in order to ascertain the nature and peculiarities of their formation in the aspect of the modernization of Soviet Russia in the 1920s and1930s and to determine the place in the classification of Russian cities of the pre-war period. The theoretical and methodological basis for the study is the concept of catch-up model of modernization and interdisciplinary approach. Methods of concrete historical analysis were combined with comparative historical, statistical and socio-economic methods, which allowed considering the history of the development of regional centers, their industrial infrastructure and social environment as an integral part of national and regional policies implemented during the period indicated by the timeframe of the study. This fact distinguishes the study from similar works devoted to the industrial development of the European North. The materials used for the study, many of which were first introduced into scientific use, and the conclusions set forth in the article greatly expand the empirical spectrum of the process of Soviet modernization and allow us to draw lessons of a conceptual nature for the contemporary development of the regional centers of the European North of Russia. On the basis of wide usage of archival documents and statistical sources, the study found that the industrial development of the regional centers of the European North in the 1920s-1930s had been quite rapid, but at the same time had had a very specialized focus. The economy of Arkhangelsk, Vologda and Petrozavodsk was focused on the formation of the timber industry complex, the economy of Murmansk was focused on the fishing industry and the formation of a large transport hub of year-round use. The paper concludes with a summery of the results: the industrial and demographic development of the regional centers of the European North was characterized by rather high dynamic processes; urbanization was largely due to the modernization reforms in the country; regional specific character resulted from the geographical location, sector specialization and a large growth of the urban labor force due to the rural migration. The findings and materials of the research presented in the article can be useful in studying the fundamental problems of northern urbanization. The prospects of further scientific research work of the authors are in the domain of comparative analysis of the development of municipal public utilities, which has not yet been the subject of a special study
Keywords
social environment, soviet modernization in the 1920s and 1930s, industrial development and urbanization, urban infrastructure, regional centers of the european north and their classification