The Russian Federation's regional development strategy until 2030 proposes a shift in the country's socioeconomic development vector toward strengthening cooperation to transform the Asia-Pacific region through the formation of international corridors and the development of Russia's Far Eastern regions. The new strategy focuses on cross-border cooperation and the development of an infrastructure for interaction in border regions. This work focuses on the social landscape of the border regions of Russia and China, which have different starting positions for ensuring the accelerated development of their territories. The aim of the study is to examine the characteristics of regions by economic sectors, the structure of settlement systems, the quality of the urban environment, the situation on the housing market, and the social mobility of the population. The authors proceed from the hypothesis that the quality of the living environment is of key importance for attracting population and investment to the Far Eastern regions of Russia. The paper draws on the results of an analysis of scientific papers and statistical data, city assessments in the Urban Environment Quality Index of the Russian Federation's Ministry of Construction, and a study conducted in 2023 in the Altai Republic, Trans-Baikal, the Jewish Autonomous Region, the Amur Region, Khabarovsk, and Primorsky regions. The study results demonstrate ongoing trends in population outflow, most pronounced in the Khabarovsk and Transbaikal regions, as well as in the Jewish Autonomous region. The high level of depreciation of the housing stock, along with residents' complaints about the high cost of housing, indicates the need to increase housing construction and launch government support programs to ensure affordable housing purchases or subsidized rentals for various categories of families in the regions studied. The study demonstrates the high heuristic potential of research into the social landscape of territories, since the attractiveness of cities for living and the quality of the urban environment are no less important for the development of cities and regions than indicators of economic activity.
The Russian Federation's regional development strategy until 2030 proposes a shift in the country's socioeconomic development vector toward strengthening cooperation to transform the Asia-Pacific region through the formation of international corridors and the development of Russia's Far Eastern regions. The new strategy focuses on cross-border cooperation and the development of an infrastructure for interaction in border regions. This work focuses on the social landscape of the border regions of Russia and China, which have different starting positions for ensuring the accelerated development of their territories. The aim of the study is to examine the characteristics of regions by economic sectors, the structure of settlement systems, the quality of the urban environment, the situation on the housing market, and the social mobility of the population. The authors proceed from the hypothesis that the quality of the living environment is of key importance for attracting population and investment to the Far Eastern regions of Russia. The paper draws on the results of an analysis of scientific papers and statistical data, city assessments in the Urban Environment Quality Index of the Russian Federation's Ministry of Construction, and a study conducted in 2023 in the Altai Republic, Trans-Baikal, the Jewish Autonomous Region, the Amur Region, Khabarovsk, and Primorsky regions. The study results demonstrate ongoing trends in population outflow, most pronounced in the Khabarovsk and Transbaikal regions, as well as in the Jewish Autonomous region. The high level of depreciation of the housing stock, along with residents' complaints about the high cost of housing, indicates the need to increase housing construction and launch government support programs to ensure affordable housing purchases or subsidized rentals for various categories of families in the regions studied. The study demonstrates the high heuristic potential of research into the social landscape of territories, since the attractiveness of cities for living and the quality of the urban environment are no less important for the development of cities and regions than indicators of economic activity.