Estimation of the impact of transport conditions on the demographic development and structure of the rural settlement pattern in Tver oblast

The long-term dynamics of the rural population and the modern structure of the rural settlement pattern in Tver oblast are shown in interrelation with the dynamics of transport conditions. Tver oblast is the largest early developed intercapital region with a very low density of rural population and settlements. The low-populated network of settlements is significantly destroyed: about 20% of settlements have no permanent residents. At that, a quarter of the rural population (according to the authors’ estimates) lives without permanent transport connection. It is one of the main problems of the region’s rural population. The largest decrease in the population occurred in districts where there are few hard-surface roads. Difficult transport conditions of the rural settlement pattern prevail in peripheral districts remote from Tver, but they are also present in all other districts of the oblast and even in the suburban area.