development of land and housing construction. This resulted in an extremely slow process of
developed of small and medium-size cities, where provision of social structure, including
engineering and technical supplies became very much neglected15.
For small urban settlements with traditional local manufacturing based on agricultural and
agricultural-industrial specialisation , the main problems are concentrated in low level of
engineering equipment of residential and public sector, low level of social service. Solution of
these problems requires the special government programs development as well as active state
support.
Now the territory of Belarus includes high-urbanised areas with large and big cities (Minsk
agglomeration and territories within of large and big cities' influence zones) on the one hand, and
broad rural spaces (agricultural areas) that are submitted to the small urban settlements on the
other hand.
The level and character of urbanisation is determined by new social and economic processes,
demographic specialities, historically established human settlement structure, and environmental
conditions. Comparative analysis of administrative districts' urbanising processes shows essential
differences within the districts.
As mentioned above the administrative districts submitted to Minsk and to the regional centres,
including Bobruisk district, have the highest level of urbanisation. The majority of regions of the
North-West part of the republic and Polesiye16 have the lowest level of urbanisation. These
regions are characterised by low density of urban population in the whole (less than 25
inhabitants per sq. km.).
Priorities in management of urbanisation are following: determination of the territorial recourses,
including human potential, and methods of their efficient use; definition of the ecological
sustainability of the territory and formation of the system of the planning circumscription;
searching for the top sizes and parameters of development, determination of the central and
regional level priorities, and territorial strategy principles development on this basement;
formation of the regions development varieties with their comparative forecast.
Some new types of urban settlements in Belarus
Social, economic and ecological processes that had place last years in country promoted new
type of urban settlements formation, such as:
- Settlements located on the contaminated territories;
- Settlements on the cross-border areas;
- “Military towns” —- settlements for military contingent and their families, brought out of
Germany.
Each group of mentioned settlements are differed by special conditions of development and
requires particular measures for their development.
Urban settlements for military contingent brought out of Germany -- new element of urban
settlement network of the Republic of Belarus
From the beginning of 1990s actions on reclamation of territories which belonged to military
contingent have been implementing. Earlier there were military bodies of troops and divisions as
well as military towns. Legislation and mechanism for vacant territories quick involvement into
the economic activity are formed and measures on social, economic, ecological and other
problems that were ensued are developed17.