Cities of Russia

Main article: Russia

Largest cities

By the end of 2021, there were 16 million-plus cities in Russia.

• Moscow (capital)
• St. Petersburg
• Novosibirsk
• Voronezh
• Yekaterinburg
• Krasnodar
• Krasnoyarsk
• Perm
• Volgograd
• Kazan
• Nizhny Novgorod
• Omsk
• Rostov-on-Don
• Samara
• Ufa
• Chelyabinsk

Map of settlements

Digitalization

Concept "Smart City" in Russia

• Smart city: development in Russia
• AIC Safe City - as part of the implementation of the federal program "Safe City"

2017: Rating of sustainable development of Russian cities

The rating of sustainable development of cities of the Russian Federation was compiled by the Agency "Esg Em" in accordance with the principles of sustainable development of territories determined by international organizations and the scientific community^[1]

The UR rating was built for 179 cities of the Russian Federation with a population of over 100 thousand people (a total of 1112 cities in Russia). The positions of cities in the ranking are determined on the basis of 31 indicators assessing three main areas of sustainable development: economic, environmental and social (including demographic).

The purpose of the rating is to identify leaders and outsiders of sustainable development among Russian cities to determine the potential for growth and increase their competitiveness.

Alexander Bychkov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the ESG EM Agency, believes that the importance of the sustainable development rating as a tool for assessing the prospects and growth opportunities of Russian cities is becoming more relevant after Russia signed the Paris Climate Agreement and adopted 17 sustainable development goals at the UN summit until 2030. The agency sees its task in popularizing the topic of sustainable development in the Russian regions. The agency has already held two regional conferences on sustainable urban development in Kaluga (2015) and Tambov (2016).

According to Elena Dolgikh, Director General of the Esg Em Agency, the value of the rating is that regional leaders can use the rating as an independent tool for assessing the activities of city administrations. An analysis of the dynamics of the rating results from 2012 to 2015 showed that more balanced in terms of economic, social and environmental development, Russian cities show better dynamics during the economic downturn. It was also noted that effective strategic planning at the municipal and regional level has a noticeable positive impact on the sustainability of urban development.

The results of the rating of sustainable urban development make it possible to identify groups of leading and lagging municipalities. Twenty cities of rating leaders can be roughly divided into four groups:

• Capitals (Moscow, St. Petersburg) and the largest cities of the Urals and the Volga region (Yekaterinburg, Perm, Kazan);
• Dynamically developing regional centers (Tyumen, Krasnodar, Kursk, Stavropol);
• Oil and gas industry centers (Surgut, Nizhnevartovsk, Nefteyugansk, Almetyevsk, Novy Urengoy);
• A number of cities in the Moscow region (Krasnogorsk, Mytishchi, Domodedovo, Khimki).

The twenty cities that took the lowest positions in the UR rating included single-industry towns of the Urals and Western Siberia (Prokopyevsk, Kiselevsk, Leninsk-Kuznetsk, Pervouralsk, Nizhny Tagil, etc.), separate old-industrial centers of the European part of Russia (Murom), the cities of Crimea and the republics of the North Caucasus (Khasavyurt, Feodosia, Yalta).

Analysis of the change in the position of cities in the SD rating from 2012 to 2015 showed that the position of the main part of cities (87%) changed slightly. The positions of only every fifth city have noticeably changed: for example, for 20 cities (13% of the sample), the position in the UR rating has changed within 30‒50 positions, and for two cities - even by more than 50 positions. In the leaders of growth were,, Novomoskovsk,, in the Krasnoyarsk Tula Achinsk leaders of the fall - Podolsk and Nizhny Tagil.

Names

Most common names

For 2021

Settlements with names on Y

Settlements of Russia, the names of which begin with A.

Renamings

History

2024: Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed to allocate ₽100 billion for master plans of cities of the Far Eastern Federal District

Russia Vladimir Putin In November 2024, the President instructed to allocate additional funding in the amount of ₽100 billion for the implementation of master plans for Far Eastern Federal District the development of cities and supporting settlements of the Arctic zone in the period 2025-2030.

According to TASS, the funds will be directed in the form of budget loans from the federal budget to the constituent entities of Russia to finance infrastructure projects. Reports on the execution of the order should be provided annually, starting from February 15, 2025.

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The Russian government has already allocated and is issuing more than ₽400 billion for the renovation of the Far East. To date, master plans have been developed for 25 Far Eastern cities.

The Russian President stressed that the novelty of the Far Eastern master plans lies in a comprehensive approach that unites the spatial and economic development of the territories, in contrast to the Soviet practice of industrial construction.

In December 2023, the government identified 16 key settlements in the Arctic, for which the development of master development plans until 2035 has begun. The implementation of these projects will begin in 2025.

Until 2030, similar strategic documents will be prepared for 200 settlements in Russia, including supporting cities that contribute to strengthening the country's technological sovereignty.

From 2025, it is planned to complete the preparation of a master plan for the development of the satellite city of Vladivostok, which will unite Vladivostok, Artem and Nadezhdinsky district into a single agglomeration.

The federal authorities intend to annually monitor the dynamics of the implementation of Far Eastern master plans and celebrate successful regional teams and departments to disseminate best practices. ��30 billion has already been allocated for these purposes, which are directed to the initial stage of the implementation of the program for the development of Far Eastern and Arctic cities.^[2]

2021: Four new million-plus cities appear in Russia

According to the results of the All-Russian Population Census of 2021, it became known about the appearance of four new cities with a population of more than 1 million people. These are Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Perm and Voronezh. This was reported to Rosstat at the end of May 2022.

Thus, by the end of 2021 Russia , there were 16 million-plus cities. These also include Moscow and, St. Petersburg as well as,,,, Volgograd,, Yekaterinburg,, and Kazan Nizhny Novgorod. Novosibirsk Omsk Rostov-on-Don Samara Ufa Chelyabinsk

View of Voronezh

Million-plus cities in Russia are the most important places of concentration and attraction of human, labor, industrial, cultural, environmental, economic resources and centers of socio-economic development both for their region and usually for several surrounding regions at once, and some of them (Moscow and located close to the borders) - also for CIS countries and Asia. Their importance in this capacity depends not only on the number of inhabitants, but also on a number of other factors, the most important of which are the level of income of the population, the accumulated economic and cultural potential, as well as the specifics of neighboring regions, for which millionaire cities are centers of transport, higher education, trade, logistics, culture, etc.

It is noteworthy that the population of Perm exceeded a million back in 1979, but in 2010, when the previous census was carried out, 991 thousand inhabitants were recorded there.

In total, 35.7 million people live in these urban districts, clarified in Rosstat. According to preliminary data from the All-Russian Population Census, about 147.2 million people permanently live in Russia, which is 1.4% more than in 2010.

As noted in Rosstat at the end of May 2022, after the completion of data processing, the final population according to the census may slightly increase or decrease.^[3]

1811: The largest cities in Russia by population

The population of large cities of Russia in 1811, thousand people:

1. Petersburg: 335.6

2. Moscow: 270.2

3. Vilna: 56.3

4. Kazan: 53.9

5. Tula: 52.1

6. Astrakhan: 37.8

7. Riga: 32.0

8. Saratov: 26.7

9. Eagle: 24.6

10. Yaroslavl: 23.8

11. Kursk: 23.5

12. Kyiv: 23.3

13. Kaluga: 23.1

14. Voronezh: 22.1

Total: 1005

Notes