provided by Research Papers in Economics
1
Dr. Dmitri Piterski, Institute of Regional Geography, Leipzig, Germany
Victor Ivlitchev, Institute for Regional and Urban Planning, Minsk, Belarus
NEW URBAN SETTLEMENTS IN BELARUS: SOME TRENDS AND CHANGES.
Abstract
The modern urban urban system of Belarus is under the influence of a social-economic and
political transformational processes. Social, economic and ecological processes that had place
last years in country promoted new types of urban settlements formation. A number of small
urban settlements and residential areas in cities have been built for civil representatives of
military contingent that brought out of Central and Eastern European countries. These
residential areas were built with participation of different Byelorussian and foreign building
companies and German financing (1,4 billions DM = 715,8 million €). It is characterised by
high quality of housing, service, engineering and transport infrastructure. Plots of land for
residential areas location were defined with Institute for Regional and Urban Planning
participation according to the master plans of cities with idea of living environment improving.
Planning projects of the districts were made through tenders. Totally seven residential areas
were built in Borisov and Maryina Gorka (Minsk Oblast), Baranovitchi and Bereza (Brest
Oblast), Lida, Slonim and Ross (Grodno Oblast). There are 5,938 flats, five schools, seven
kindergartens for 2,110 places, seven public centres, five policlinics and one hospital equipped
by modern medical equipment, seven automated boilers with reserve capacity, and necessary
structures for water and energy supply, sewerage and communications. On the last stage of the
program the industrial area included five factories on roofing-tile production, products and
constructions from silicate-concrete, dry building mixture, joinery and lime was built in Chist
town (Minsk Oblast). However there are some problems in social sphere and a limit of labour
market and as a result there is high rate of unemployment. Using the patterns of several
residential areas some modern social-economic problems of mentioned residential areas and
ways of their solutions are showed in the report.
Key words: Belarus, urban settlement system, master plans, residential areas.
Introduction: Belarus in the context of European settlement system. Some aspects.
Republic of Belarus is located in the Eastern Europe. The country has geographical advantage. It
is one of the important premises for integration into the joint European settlement system.
Although, such specific geopolitical location historically caused an interstate pretensions. It is
very important that Belarus is located on the European main communication links “West-East”
and “North-South” crossing. High level of transport connection (railway network and roads) and
good communication accessibility also matter as well as including of Belarus into the global
computer network.
The area of Belarus amounts to 207.6 thousand sq. km. It is comparable with Poland (313
thousand sq. km.), Finland (305 thousand sq. km.) or Romania (238 thousand sq. km.). The
population of Belarus is 9,990.4 thousand (01.01. 2001). It is comparable with population of
Belgium (10.0 million), Sweden (8,9 million), Austria (8,2 million) and Hungary (10,0 million).
The average density of population is 48 inh. per sq. km. It is nearly average density of population
of the Baltic Region countries (44 inh. per sq. km), however it is still less than in the European
Union (115 inh. per sq. km.). At the same time the density of population on the territory of
Belarus varies from 17 inh. per sq. km., in some districts of Mogilev Region, to 190 inh. per sq.
km. in Minsk agglomeration.