Urban-type settlement
Encyclopedia
Urban-type settlement is an official designation
Designation
Designation may refer to:* Professional certification* Designation , an official classification determined by a government agency or historical society- See also :* United States Department of Defense aerospace vehicle designation...

 for a type of locality used in some of the countries of the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

. Several specific criteria are associated with this settlement classification, which basically requires the settlement to have some sort of urban-like infrastructure.

Soviet Union

In the Soviet Union the criteria of urban-type settlements were set independently by the Soviet Republics. Those criteria, however, only differed very slightly from one republic to another.

Russian SFSR

In the Russian SFSR, urban-type settlements were subdivided into three types:
  • Work settlements : localities with factories, mining industry, power stations, construction industry, with population of at least 3,000 and with at least 85% of the population being workers, professionals, and the members of their families;
  • Resort settlements : localities focusing on resort and health facilities (around beaches, mineral water
    Mineral water
    Mineral water is water containing minerals or other dissolved substances that alter its taste or give it therapeutic value, generally obtained from a naturally occurring mineral spring or source. Dissolved substances in the water may include various salts and sulfur compounds...

     spas
    Spa town
    A spa town is a town situated around a mineral spa . Patrons resorted to spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau...

    , etc.), with population of at least 2,000, with at least 50% of the average annual population being non-permanent residents;
  • Suburban settlements (dacha
    Dacha
    Dacha is a Russian word for seasonal or year-round second homes often located in the exurbs of Soviet and post-Soviet cities. Cottages or shacks serving as family's main or only home are not considered dachas, although many purpose-built dachas are recently being converted for year-round residence...

     settlements): settlements with a focus on private summer-time and weekend recreation, with no more than 25% of the permanent population being employed in the agricultural sector.

Ukrainian SSR

In 1981, the Verkhovna Rada
Verkhovna Rada
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is Ukraine's parliament. The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral parliament composed of 450 deputies, which is presided over by a chairman...

 of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic defined an urban-type settlement as follows:
"To the category of an urban-type settlement may be included any settlement located near industrial enterprises, buildings, railroad connections, hydro-technical constructions, and enterprises in production and refining of a agrarian products as well as settlements that include higher or middle occupation educational establishments, science-researching institutions, sanatoria
Sanatorium
A sanatorium is a medical facility for long-term illness, most typically associated with treatment of tuberculosis before antibiotics...

, and other stationary treatment and recreation establishments that have a state housing provided to no less than 2,000 inhabitants out which no less than two-thirds consist of workers, servicemen, and their families.

In exceptional cases, to the category of an urban-type settlements could be classified settlements with the amount of population less than 2,000, but more than 500 if they have a close perspective of an economic and social development potential, increase in number of people.

Belarus

According to a 1998 law of Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...

, there are three categories of urban-type settlement in the country:
  • Urban settlements: with population over 2,000, industrial enterprises and developed residential infrastructure
  • Resort settlements: with population of at least 2,000, sanatoriums, resorts or other health recuperation establishments, and developed residential infrastructure
  • Worker settlements: with population at least 500, servicing industrial enterprises, construction sites, railroad stations, electric stations, or other industrial objects.

Kyrgyzstan

In accordance with the 2008 Law on Administrative and Territorial Subdivision of Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...

, urban-type settlements are those that comprise economically significant facilities such as industrial plants, railway stations, construction sites, etc., as well as settlements with a recreational potential with population of at least 2,000. In exceptional cases, administrative, economic and cultural centers with a potential of economical development and population growth can be classified as urban-type settlements.

Russia

In modern Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, the task of setting the criteria of urban-type settlements is delegated to the federal subjects
Federal subjects of Russia
Russia is a federation which, since March 1, 2008, consists of 83 federal subjects . In 1993, when the Constitution was adopted, there were 89 federal subjects listed...

. In most cases, the federal subject's legislative body is responsible for all administrative and territorial changes, including granting and revoking of the urban-type settlement and town status.

See also

  • Subdivisions of Russia
    Subdivisions of Russia
    Russia is divided into several types and levels of subdivisions.-Federal subjects:Russia is a federation which since March 1, 2008 consists of 83 federal subjects . These federal subjects are of equal federal rights in the sense that they have equal representation—two delegates each—in the...

  • Subdivisions of Ukraine
  • Subdivisions of Kyrgyzstan
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