Functional Differentiation of Second Homes and Downshifting of Metropolitan Residents in the Moscow Region

Alexander Rusanov , Lomonosov Moscow State University

With the development of urbanization processes and the spread of urban lifestyle in the Moscow suburbs, second homes not only increase in quantity, but also change their functions. When the second homes in the nearest suburbs are actually low-rise analogues of urban apartment buildings (administrative and housing function), then in remote areas of the capital region ("Far suburbs"), the second homes become an alternative to urban apartments (recreational function). It is on the outskirts of the Moscow Region there is a "weekend downshifting", when successful and well-off citizens deliberately leave for 150-200 km from the capital in suburban settlements with poor transport accessibility and a minimum of urban amenities, where only electricity is centrally carried out, and water supply, sewerage and heating is provided individually. This "temporary migration" in the direction of the city-village ("pendulum migration of the weekend") is focused mainly on individual transport. The peculiarity of such downshifting is its temporality and maximum rejection of the urban way of life, regardless of whether suburban settlements of this type seek autonomy (town district of Shatura, 138 km East of Moscow) or are ready to take on part of the operational activities (Taldom municipal district, 110 km North of Moscow). Interviews with residents of such settlements in the summer of 2019 showed that there is a conscious way of life, household comfort close to the city, but preserving rural ecology.

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 Presented in Session P3. Poster Session Migration, Economics, Environment, Methods, History and Policy