The Possibility of Using Modern Methods and Data to Study the Spatial Structure of the St.-Petersburg Agglomeration

Abstract

—The article is devoted to the review and substantiation of modern research methods and data sources on the dynamics of spatial structure of the largest Russian urban agglomerations. The object of the study is modern methods and data sources, and the subject is the possibilities of their use. On the example of the second agglomeration in Russia – St.‑Petersburg urban agglomeration – it is shown that interdisciplinary synthesis within the framework of socio-economic geography, regional economics, urban studies, geoinformatics and cartography, land management, using a variety of data sources (data of cellular operators, tax statistics, housing construction, satellite data, retail chains, road network), as well as the use of modern GIS-complexes, allow us to assess this structure, its changes, as well as to analyze the spatial structure of the largest Russian urban agglomerations. The main objective of this study is to review and critically rethink the methods of studying the spatial structure of one of Russia’s largest urban agglomerations (St.-Petersburg) developing in the turbulent period between 2014 and 2022. An inventory of different methods and data sources was made, using the method of reasoning. Further, the advantages and disadvantages of each group of methods were identified. Through an in-depth bibliographic analysis, the limitations and possibilities of empirical content (availability of specific data sources) were identified. Based on the critical analysis of advantages and disadvantages, a final point estimate of applicability and usefulness of the considered methods for the St. Petersburg urban agglomeration is obtained. The author’s contribution lies in the adaptation of modern groups of methods for the study of the spatial structure of cities for the study of the considered agglomeration, taking into account the local specificity and assessment of applicability and usefulness of the considered methods for St. Petersburg urban agglomeration. It is assumed that the development of a modern methodology for studying the spatial structure of the St. Petersburg urban agglomeration based on the symbiosis of modern methods and data sources will make a certain contribution to the study of the largest Russian agglomerations.