TRANSPORT BARRIERS AS A FACTOR IN TERRITORIAL DIFFERENTIATION OF A BIG CITY (THE CASE OF NEW MOSCOW)

Abstract

In July 2011 the governments of Moscow and the Moscow Region (Moscow Oblast) approved proposalsfor a change in the borders of the capital of the Russian Federation. In 2011–2012 the administrative territory of the capitalcity grew almost 2.4 times mainly due to the incorporation of the southwestern part of the Moscow Region. Such spatialgrowth is unique for Russian urban planning. The joined territories are known as New Moscow. Its territorial developmentin 2012-2024 resulted in a network of newly built and reconstructed highways as well as modern housing and industrialareas. In the course of development, New Moscow became divided into rather loosely connected parts – configurativeareas, bordered on all sides by intracity transport barriers. The diversity of such parts of New Moscow is due to the presence within its territory of several large radial and chordal (tangential) intracity transport barriers. The paper aims tostudy the network of intracity transport barriers of New Moscow that has developed by 2025 and to identify theconfigurative areas formed by them as well as the geographical features of these areas. The research methods employedare cartometric (the basic one), descriptive, and zoning. The study has identified 13 intracity transport barriers and 3configurative areas on the territory of New Moscow. The peculiarity of New Moscow in comparison with the old part ofthe city is that there are some configurative areas being formed in its peripheral part.