Assessment of the economic space of Russia on the basis of the highlight areas of growth and decline in urban population

Development of the Russian economic space is a long-term process, combining geographical, historical, socio-economic and demographic aspects. The relevance of this research topic is due to the need for scientific analysis of the processes of urbanization, the identification of the country’s territories with increasing and decreasing urban population, the formation of urban growth centers as the potential of sustainable territorial organization of the regions and the country as a whole. The article studies the modern structure of urban settlement in Russia and spatial differentiation of the city system. The analysis of population dynamics in all cities of Russia from the collapse of the Soviet Union to the present time. The study found that the network of cities is undergoing structural changes. In total, the country has two large areas with a declining urban population and six smaller areas in which the urban population has increased, highlighting the territory of economic growth and decline.