8. AND REGIONAL PLANNING

Spatial inequalities and regions at a glance The most sparsely populated area is Paliessie, which lies in the south. The only exceptions Whereas landscapes in change from within this area are the eastern and western gate- north to south (e.g. from the Belarusian Lakeland ways of Brest and Homieĺ, which are the admin- in the north to the Paliessie in the south), istrative centres of the region. in terms of socio-economic development the Brest, which is the location of the largest country exhibits an east-west gradient as well border crossing in the west, is famous for its as regional differences that reflect centre-pe- fortress. The Bielaviežskaja Pušča National Park riphery disparities. Some of these inequalities near Brest is a World Heritage Nature Reserve. It can be traced back to the period when the coun- received this status as Europe’s largest primeval try’s western regions formed a part of forest. The pride of the park is its population of (Kireenko, E.G. 2003). The east-west dichotomy bison. Brest is also renowned as the site of sever- is also apparent in the more industrialized nature al major historical treaties and events (the Brest of the eastern regions (Ioffe, G. 2004, 2006) and Union of 1596, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk of 1918, the richer cultural and architectural heritage of the defence of the Brest Fortress in 1941, and the western areas with their more favourable demo- graphics. Nevertheless, these differences are far less profound than those seen in . Belarus’s regional differences are, however, outweighed by the dichotomy that exists between and the rest of the country. This dichotomy constitutes the main inequality of development in the country (Figure 8.1). None of Belarus’s regions or districts have reached the same level of devel- opment as Minsk. Still, inequalities measured in terms of regional GDP are gradually being bal- anced out, a process that has been accompanied by a decline in income inequality (Figure 5.15). Per capita personal income in Minsk is 1.57 times higher than the national mean value, while in Homieĺ, Brest and Mahilioŭ per capita income is 82–84% of that mean value. In terms of socio-eco- nomic development and based on Kozlovskaya’s calculations, which employ eight quotient indi- cators (Kozlovskaya, L.V. 2010), the Minsk met- ropolitan area and the Minsk and Homieĺ re- gions are the top-ranking areas, the Hrodna and Viciebsk regions are ranked in the middle, and the Brest and Mahilioŭ regions have seen their rankings decline since the end of the Soviet era. The country’s landscapes, which change from north to south, form three distinct regions.

169 signing of agreements connected with the dis- ings, a legacy of the Soviet era. The River Svislač, solution of the in 1991 in Viskuli). which cuts the city in two, expands into an ar- In addition to these two major urban centres, tificial lake (Minskoje More) to the north of the the area has several towns that were established city. The lake is a popular spot for bathing in the at river crossings (on the rivers Prypiać, Dniapro, summer. The is also the location Sož). The largest of these towns are and of the potash and salt mines and it is (refinery). Close to Pinsk lies the Prypiać home to the Niasviž Museum (a UNESCO world National Park, which is famous for its birdlife heritage site), the Historical and Cultural Reserve and for its peatbogs and sand dunes. The historic of Zaslaŭje, the memorial area of Khatyn, the ski town of Turaŭ is also situated in the region. resorts of Lahojsk and Silichi, and the “Stalin Homieĺ, the second largest city in Belarus, Line” military historical memorial. is a centre for a wide range of engineering in- Mahilioŭ, a major railway junction, is re- dustries. It is also the location of the famous nowned for its historic buildings (St. Nicholas Paskevich Palace and Park. The Paliessie Monastery and the Church of St. Stanislaus) and Radiation Ecological Reserve lies in the east- as a centre for engineering. Meanwhile, Babrujsk, ern part of the region and there are special an industrial town, is noted for its mineral water tours in this area that was so severely hit by the springs and its 19th century fortress. The Mahilioŭ disaster. Most roads in the region run region hosts the “Belarusian Suzdal”, a series of from east to west, given the impassable marshes churches and monasteries at Mstislaŭ. in the south. The northern part of the area is rel- The far north is the location of the coun- atively industrialized. try’s principal area for leisure and recreation, The terrain gradually becomes hillier to- the Belarusian Lakeland. In a broader sense, wards the north, culminating in the Belarusian the area forms part of the Viciebsk region. Ridge, which straddles the Mahilioŭ, Minsk Specialization in this region has given rise to the and Hrodna regions. The main east-west trans- development of cultural, educational and event port routes cross this area, thereby avoiding the tourism (Viciebsk, Polack), balneological tourism southern marshy areas and the many lakes in (Ušačy and Letcy resorts), and sports and recre- the north. This region is the most industrialized ational tourism (Braslaŭ Lakes National Park). in Belarus and, in the west, it is also the richest The Braslaŭ tourist area, which is based on a se- area in terms of national monuments (Hrodna, ries of lakes (more than 30 lakes), is a popular Pinsk, Brest, Navahrudak, Mir, Slonim, Lida, the place for sport and recreation. The ecosystems of Žyrovičy Monastery, and the Struve Geodetic the Braslaŭ Lakes preserve rich flora and fauna Arc, which has been inscribed on the UNESCO and are attractive for the development of eco- World Heritage List). logical tourism. The northern tip of the Minsk Hrodna lies at the centre of the Nioman region is the site of the country’s largest lake, valley. A major centre for Polish minority cul- Narač, which is surrounded by a national park. ture, the town has a university and a wealth of The small town of Narač is a tourist paradise architecture. The town of Navahrudak was the much favoured by the residents of Minsk. nucleus for the formation of the Grand Duchy of The centre of the area is Viciebsk, the birth- Lithuania in the 13th century, which then became place of Marc Chagall. The town is Belarus’s one of the largest states in medieval Europe. The cultural capital and is famous for its national region has numerous well-preserved ancient monuments; it also has a strong mechanical en- churches (St. Boris and Gleb’s Church – Hrodna), gineering sector and is the place of manufacture fortifications and medieval castles. The area is of “Vitjaz” televisions. The Slavianski (Slavic) the native region of Adam Mickiewicz (Zavosse Bazaar, a cultural festival, is held in the town – Baranavičy ) and of Tadeusz Kościuszko each year. Two further centres in the region are (Kosava-Mieračoŭščyna – Ivacevičy raion). Polack and Navapolack; the former is famous The capital city, Minsk, is poorer in terms of for its architectural wealth and the latter for its architectural heritage. Minsk has a historical me- petrochemical industry. Polack is the oldest city dieval core, but the city is otherwise dominated in the country. It has a rich historical heritage by extensive parks and modern high-rise build- stretching back 1,140 years and is the site of many

170 architectural gems dating to the 11th and 12th ture (Kozlovskaya, L.V. 2005). Ultimately, when centuries (Sophia Cathedral, the Transfiguration the new administrative structure was introduced Church) and to other epochs. Polack is the cradle in 1924, there were 10 countries (or okrugs), 100 of Christianity in Belarus (a place of pilgrimage districts and 1,202 local councils, all of which ap- to the St. Euphrosyne Monastery) and the home peared to reflect economic attributes and admin- town of an outstanding educator and pioneer of istrative criteria. printing, Francišak Skaryna (Museum of Printing, In the post-war period, staff at the Institute a memorial monument). of Economics, Academy of Sciences of BSSR, elab- orated a regionalization plan for the administra- tive division of the country within the framework Regionalization and raionization during the of Soviet economic planning. The Geography of Soviet era Belarus, which was published in 1977, identified six economic regions (Brest, Viciebsk, Homieĺ, In the Soviet era, Belarus – which was known Hrodna, Minsk, Mahilioŭ) and nineteen subre- at the time as the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist gions, which have not changed since the 1960s and Republic (BSSR) – was one of eighteen major are still valid today (Kozlovskaya, L.V. 2005). The economic regions within the Soviet Union since major industrial towns were organized around the 1960s. Its internal regionalization, or “raioni- these regions (Kireenko, E.G. 2003). Despite their zation”, followed the uniform Soviet model from many similarities, the various regions exhibit sig- the 1920s (Kozlovskaya, L.V. 2005). With a view nificant differences in terms of population den- to optimizing the region’s economic potential, sity, workforce qualifications and skills, natural the Soviet Union sought to measure its natural, resources, history, economic development, and social and economic resources, whereby Soviet the structure of the economy. Each region con- geography played a pioneering role. Yet, the gen- stituted an economic core and a territorial-pro- eral principles of centralized Soviet regional de- duction complex (the territorial organization of velopment, which were elaborated by the School productive forces in Soviet geographical termi- of N. Baransky and then applied throughout the nology) specializing in one sector of the econo- Soviet Union, ignored in many cases the natural my (Kozlovskaya, L.V. 2005). Likewise, the sub- and economic attributes of what was an enor- regions also had their economic specializations, mous country (Dudko, G.V. 2007). but unlike the regions they did not form a level The first attempt at dividing the republic of public administration and their borders did not into economic and administrative regions was always correspond with the district boundaries made in 1923–24 (Kireenko, E.G. 2003). When (Kireenko, E.G. 2003). The main parameters by designating the so-called okrugs, Soviet planners which a subregion was defined included popula- considered the size and population of territories tion size and the presence of a regional centre and as well as their economic integrity. As far as the a broader gravity zone. In turn, the subregions creation of economic geographical regions was determined the specialization of regions and the concerned, an important role was played in the direction of their future development. 1920s by Smolich, A.A. (Economic geographi- The regionalization proposed by Lis, A. cal raionization of Belarusian ethnic territories, (The Problem of the Development of Productive 1919–1923), who elaborated the ethnic, economic Forces in Belarus, 1972) was based on the theory and agricultural regionalization of the country of territorial-production complexes and ignored (Kozlovskaya, L.V. 2005) (Figure 8.2). The typol- administrative divisions (Kozlovskaya, L.V. 2005). ogy created by the agronomist Yarosevich, N. Lis identified four separate areas in Belarus, based (1923) considered such factors as agriculture, nat- on the fuel and energy base, the transport net- ural and demographic attributes, and the distance work, the gravity zones of the major economic from the potential markets, for at the time Belarus hubs, natural and human resources, and the spe- was still an agrarian country (Kozlovskaya, L.V. cialization of the agricultural sector. The Central 2005). In 1924, Bonch-Osmolovsky, R. proposed area included Minsk and was the country’s most the division of the country into seven regions advanced region. The South-East area was cen- based on the regional organization of agricul- tred on Homieĺ, had an abundance of forests and

171 mineral deposits (petroleum, coal and potash), instance, an urban development plan for Minsk and specialized in the processing of raw materials. was introduced in 1965, and this plan served as a The North-East area specialized in the production model for urban development in Belarus’s other of flax, was poor in raw materials, and therefore major urban centres. The first Belarusian region- its industry mainly processed imported raw ma- al planning policy paper in the field of tourism terials. The West area, with its favourable soil and was published in 1960 and concerned Lake Narač climate conditions, specialized in agro-industrial (Dudko, G.V. 2007). production (Kozlovskaya, L.V. 2005). In the 1980s, the focus switched to integrat- Beginning in the 1960s, advances were ed natural and economic regionalization, the made in regional and urban development. For basis for which was the relationship between

172 natural geographic divisions, economy and pop- ban planning institute in 2010 (Kozlovskaya, ulation, and the geographic location of natural L.V. 2005). Such regionalization was designed resources and mineral deposits. Based on these to create living conditions of the same quality factors, Sidor, S. (Geografia Belarusi, 1989) iden- for most of the population; promote a rational tified three major natural-economic regions with- approach to the regional planning of produc- in the country: Northern (Lake District), Central, tion; utilize natural resources in a reasonable and Southern (Paliessie) (Kozlovskaya, L.V. 2005, fashion; and reduce regional inequalities. The Kireenko, E.G. 2003). The Northern region was regional development paper identified 388 eco- characterized by moraine soils, numerous lakes, nomic-geographical territorial units, which were dense forests (with many health resorts and a organized around 186 urban and 202 larger rural developed tourism sector), and a cool and rainy settlements. Each of these territorial units had a summer climate. Additional characteristic fea- centre that could be reached within 30–35 min- tures were the presence of many small villages, utes from the periphery, 60–70 villages, an aver- an underdeveloped agricultural sector, and low age population of 25,000, and an average area of population densities in rural areas. The Central 500 square kilometres. region had a varied topography with various soil Based on the economic, social and natural types, a high population density and a diversi- characteristics and attributes, these territorial fied agricultural sector. The Southern region was units were grouped into six types. The twenty densely forested, with a relatively low share of most developed units comprised the largest mul- cultivated land. Local industry was based on the tifunctional towns, including Minsk. The second mining of potash, petroleum, and imported black type comprised 37 territorial units that had aris- and brown coal. The region was sparsely popu- en around the industrial centres. The third type lated and scarce in roads. comprised 61 territorial units, formed around In the 1980s, Pirozhnik, II. (Socio-economic the industrial and agricultural centres and where Typology of the of the BSSR, 1986) pro- the major industrial enterprises processed agri- duced a multi-variable complex quantitative cultural produce. The fourth type (159 territorial typology of the raions in Belarus. He used 13 units) comprised the areas surrounding small indicators, constituting three factors: socio-de- towns and urban-type settlements, typically with mographical, agrarian-landscape, and an indus- agricultural production and the processing of try-related. Pirozhnik identified four types of produce. In the fifth type (76 territorial units), district. The first type comprised the major indus- in addition to land used for agriculture, there trial cities, with large populations and advanced was a high proportion of forest land, grassland, and diversified industrial sectors. In the second flood plains, and lakes. Tourist resorts were an- type were the industrial-agrarian raions, with dy- other typical feature. The sixth type (35 territorial namic small and medium-sized towns and inten- units) comprised the nature protection areas and sive agriculture. The agrarian-intensive type was the national parks, with tourism and nature pres- characterized by high percentages of arable land, ervation being the main fields of activity. high production yields, and overall favourable agro-ecological attributes. In the agrarian-exten- sive type, the centres of the districts were small Regional planning and depressed areas – towns or urban-type settlements, and both indus- since the independence try and agriculture tended to be rather underde- veloped (Kozlovskaya, L.V. 2005). Ideological constraints meant that scant attention The late 1980s saw the publication of the was given to depressed areas until the advent of “Scheme of Complex Territorial Organization Perestroika in the mid-1980s (Kozlovskaya, L.V. of the BSSR”, which even today is regarded as 2005). In those regions where industry was pre- the most thorough and comprehensive work ponderant (Minsk, Homieĺ), restrictions were in the field (Kozlovskaya, L.V. 2005). Belarus’s introduced, alongside measures to promote the regional development strategy was published development of small towns, a process that had for the first time in 2000, and the strategy was begun in the 1970s (Dudko, G.V. 2007). By the revised and republished by the Belniipgrad ur- 1980s, environmental pollution stemming from

173 industrialization had become a notable problem. the import of raw materials and energy resources. Regions with significant industrial pollution in- The most significant declines in industrial output cluded the Salihorsk area, as well as the major were recorded in the Viciebsk and Hrodna re- chemical and petrochemical centres (Mazyr, gions, while the Minsk region survived the period Navapolatsk). The western districts, which were relatively unscathed. The raw material production less industrialized, counted as less advanced in centres (e.g. Salihorsk) and the single-function in- terms of industrial development. dustrial centres (, Smarhoń, Rečyca, As of 1986, a further problem region Novalukoml and Mikaševičy) also encountered emerged: the areas affected by the Chernobyl grave difficulties (Kireenko, E.G. 2003). By 1995, disaster (Kozlovskaya, L.V. 2005). In these are- relative economic stability had been achieved, as, an important task is the ongoing monitoring thanks to a series of economic policy-making deci- of radiation levels in the natural resources (soil, sions. From 1996, industrial production increased water, forests, etc.). Measures are also required to throughout Belarus, whereby the Viciebsk region protect the health of populations affected by ra- was an exception (Kireenko, E.G. 2003). diation and to improve living standards. A major During the economic transition, a new type consideration is the need to restore the economic of crisis region emerged, where the unemploy- potential of the contaminated areas, to promote ment rate exceeded 10% (whereas in other regions investment in the region, and to strengthen small the rate was approx. 3%) and where the hidden and medium enterprises as well as local peasant unemployment rate exceeded 50%. Such regions farms. The situation of economic sectors (agri- tended to be industrial centres that had been based culture and forestry) in the most affected areas on the defence industry (Smarhoń and Viliejka) requires enhancement measures. An important and had met demand throughout the Soviet Union issue for the Belarusian economy is the rational before its collapse. The former garrison towns rep- use and protection of the natural resources of the resented a special problem category; they were af- Paliessie region. In addition to the problems stem- flicted by high unemployment as the Soviet army ming from the , a further major withdrew (Kozlovskaya, L.V. 2005). concern is landscape degradation caused by me- After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, lioration measures. Flood protection and nature depressed regions also appeared along the new preservation are additional fields requiring action. national boundaries (Kozlovskaya, L.V. 2005). In the Belarusian Lakeland, in view of the Social and economic relations with such neigh- economic and ecological factors, the most impor- bouring countries as Latvia and Lithuania were tant development criteria are the rational use of broken. In contrast, cooperation with Poland in- the lakes, the development of tourism and a re- creased. In recent decades the development of duction in the pollution caused by local industry. border areas has tended to occur with the frame- In the Navapolack area, a key site for the chem- work of the Euroregions (“Bug”, “Neman” and icals industry, the level of harmful emissions is “Dnepr”) or as part of international environmen- the highest in the country. tal cooperation. In 1996, a development program In consequence of the economic crisis that for border regions was elaborated under the aus- followed the collapse of the Soviet Union, there pices of the TACIS “Cross Border Cooperation was an increase in social and economic inequality Programme”. The program targeted such areas in Belarus, with a widening gap between western as economic growth, reductions in unemploy- and eastern regions and between Minsk and the ment, ecological improvements, tourism, the de- rest of the country (Kozlovskaya, L.V. 2005). As velopment of the transport and technical infra- in other post-communist countries, in Belarus the structure, and the preservation of the historical transition from a planned economy to the market and cultural heritage (Dudko, G.V. 2007). economy resulted in a further deepening of the in- With the dissolution of the Soviet Union and equalities between major cities and smaller towns; the transition to a market economy, regional and migration increased, with many people moving to urban development faced new challenges (Dudko, the more developed regions (Kireenko, E.G. 2003). G.V. 2007). As the role of the state declined, so the The post-Soviet crisis particularly affected ability to monitor and control regional and urban those regions in which industry was dependent on development weakened. Suburbanization and the

174 urban sprawl posed an increasing threat to the in the period 1997–2000 and then revised and protective forests around Belarusian towns. republished in 2010. A further significant docu- Within Belarus, regional development ment is “The National Strategy for Sustainable planning has occurred explicitly only since the Development for the Period to 2020 of the early 1990s. In the towns and districts, five-year Republic of Belarus” (Dudko, G.V. 2007). regional planning and urban development pro- The Belniipgrad urban planning institute grams are elaborated in accordance with the na- produced a functional development typology tional planning strategy. Between 1991 and 2000, for the country’s districts based on their so- plans for 150 towns were elaborated (Dudko, cio-economic resources and development po- G.V. 2007). At present, the main regional devel- tential (Belniipgrad 2007) (Figure 8.3). Among opment plan is the “State Scheme of Complex the four types identified, the first is the city of Territorial Organization of the Republic of Minsk, the capital city region, where the prin- Belarus” (National Plan), which was elaborated cipal development priority is the coordination

175 of the agglomeration process with the adjacent economy and the processing of agricultural and settlements, whereby consideration should be forestry products. given to environmental aspects and the differing The third type comprises districts that per- development potential of the various settlements. form an important function in terms of nature Urbanized raions comprise the second type. protection and human recreation and which Their centres are the industrially advanced ma- constitute the backbone of Belarus’s ecological jor cities and the well-developed medium-sized network. Here, improvements in conservation towns. Alongside a large urban population, a are especially important. characteristic feature is the presence of numer- The fourth type is made up of the spe- ous commuters. Here, environmental improve- cial-status districts that were particularly affected ments constitute a special priority. The centres of by the Chernobyl disaster and dispose of limited districts that are agricultural in nature are small natural and human resources. In these areas, the and medium-sized towns, where enhancing the main priorities are to address the consequences population retention capacity of the area and in- of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, to improve creasing the standard of living are the main pri- the socio-economic position of the contaminated orities. A characteristic feature of the local econ- areas, and to enhance the quality of life for local omy is the important role played by the agrarian inhabitants.

Evroopt – New, European style supermarket in a Belarusian town on the periphery, Lieĺčycy. (Photo: Karácsonyi, D. 2015)

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