of Russians from the new states of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the
Baltic republics back to Russia, the out-migration of population from the industrial areas of
the Russian Far North and the Far East, the settlement of de-conscripted military personnel
and their families, who were earlier located in Eastern Europe, as well as flows of refugees of
other than Russian nationalities, who had arrived to Russia from areas with acute ethnic
conflicts.
After the collapse of the USSR the geopolitical situation in Russia also underwent significant
changes. It is generally known that the borders between the republics within the USSR during
the Soviet period were formal. However, in the post-Soviet period this was no longer the case.
As a result, many of the cities in Russia have lost their earlier central position and are located
in what have now become outback districts of the country. Thus, is the case with cities which
find themselves in a unique situation which, because of their new geo-political situation, have
suddenly wound up in a peripheral position, in the vicinity of the most important border
crossings to states, which were formerly Union Republics in the Soviet Union and whose
close economic ties and highway links were suddenly cut off.
This affected the areas of, for example, Smolensk on the Moscow - Minsk - Warsaw Axis,
Orenburg on the Volga - Kasakhstan - Middle Asian Axis, further cities of Russia near the
borders to the European States, such as Pskov, Belgorod, Bryansk, Rostov-on-Don etc. A
special case within the border regions of Russia are the border areas of the Caucasian
countries (Georgia, Azerbaijan) where the political situation is unstable. In contrast, for
example, to the Russian-Ukrainian border where the installation of a State Border Regime has
hindered the relations on a societal, economic and private level, but has not prevented it, these
relations on the Russian-Georgian border have been stopped by a strict border control system.
The changed geographical position will have as its result medium and long term changes in
economic and spatial relations, which at the same time will bring forth changes in the
functional profile of the cities and in their inner city structures.
The ecological situation in Russian cities with their high industrial concentration and
considerable air and water pollution remains tense. It is clear that the environmental pollution
in the cities is negatively affecting the state of the health of the population. More than 10% of
the cities in Russia are now in a poor ecological shape. (Brade, Pertsik & Piterski 2000,
Worobjow & Piterski 1997). It has to be taken into consideration that among the regions