One of the scientific methods says that for an in-depth study of an object, it should be broken up, divided, broken up into smaller component parts. It is this method that is often used by geographers and economists in an integrated study of large territories. They simply divide them into separate parts - areas.
What is zoning? What types of it stand out? What is modern zoning of Russia? All this will be discussed in our article.
What is zoning?
Zoning - this is the term used in English literature. However, it is precisely the Americans who are considered the "inventors" of this method. So what is zoning? In what areas and spheres of human activity is it used?
Zoning refers to the division of a territory into separate parts that differ from each other in one way or another. However, this can be not only the land area, but also the water area of the sea or ocean. The components obtained in this process are called differently: areas (most often), regions, microdistricts, zones, regions.
It is important to note that zoning is not only a process, but also the result of dividing the territory into districts. At the same time, specific goals are set for him. They can be both practical and purely informative.
Today zoning of the territory is widely used in various sciences and spheres of human practical activity: in geography, economics, landscape science, urban studies, architecture, urban planning, interior design, etc. This term is also used in breeding. However, there it carries a completely different content.
The essence and meaning of the concept of "district"
With this concept, we often meet in everyday life. Areas can be residential and workers, formal and informal, sleeping, industrial, recreational and financial-business.
The term itself has French roots (rayon). In the broadest sense of the word, a district is a locality that stands out among others with one or more features. There are other definitions of this concept. For example, one of them says that a district is a piece of space to which an action or phenomenon (natural, economic, social) applies.
The district is one of the main units of the administrative-territorial structure of a number of states of the world (most often - second order). In particular, it is distinguished in many countries of the post-Soviet space (in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and others).
Today, the term "district" is used in a variety of scientific disciplines and spheres of human life, from botany to military affairs.
Types and directions of zoning
What types of zoning exist? First of all, it can be informative or constructive (transformative). And if in the first case the zoning method is used for the purpose of research, studying the terrain, then in the second - with the goal of developing the concept of rational use of the potential of a particular territory.
Zoning can also be homogeneous or nodal, one-sign or multi-sign. In turn, the signs by which areas are distinguished may vary in content, tasks, coverage area, etc.
Based on the signs of the allocation of areas, there are the following types of zoning:
- natural;
- geographical
- climatic;
- demographic
- military;
- economic;
- recreational;
- tourist, etc.
The main principles of territorial zoning
The scientific and practical method of territorial zoning occurs according to three main principles:
- national;
- administrative;
- economic.
The national principle of zoning takes into account the ethnic composition of the population in a given territory, their traditions and historically developed features of work and life.
The administrative principle implies a certain unity of the economic, political and administrative structure of a country or a specific region. With its help, favorable conditions are created for the independent development of individual regions of the state.
Finally, the economic principle of zoning considers any district as an integral part of a single economic complex of the country with a certain set of industrial enterprises and infrastructure facilities.
These three principles are fundamental and universally recognized. They are taken into account for all types of territorial zoning.
The nature and levels of economic zoning
Economic zoning is the process of identifying areas or zones of a country (region) in which the prevailing division of labor is displayed. The main goal of this process is to create the conditions for a rational socio-economic policy. When economic zoning is important to consider many factors. First of all, we are talking about deposits of mineral and fuel resources, climatic conditions, soil fertility, demographic indicators.
Economic zoning is carried out at three levels. It:
- macro level (allocation of large economic zones);
- meso-level (allocation of economic regions within a single state or region);
- micro level (allocation of industrial centers, complexes and nodes of economic activity).
The essence and types of geographical zoning
Geographic zoning is the process of identifying on the ground individual systems and complexes that differ in their internal unity and a set of specific natural features.
It is customary to distinguish several types of physical-geographical zoning. So, it can be zonal (latitudinal) or azonal, complex or industry. In the case of sectoral (component-wise) zoning, the division of the area is carried out according to the relief, climate, vegetation, etc.
The most elementary part in the hierarchical system of physical and geographical zoning is facies. This is the simplest form of any landscape, which is located within the same biocenosis and is characterized by the homogeneity of the geological structure, water regime, microclimate and soil cover.
Modern zoning of Russia
The very first attempts to regionalize the territory of the country were made in pre-revolutionary times. However, the most striking example of the use of this method in practice was the so-called GOELRO plan of 1921 (the all-Union plan for electrification). It was based on the principle of the unity of the administrative and economic division of the state.
Modern geographical zoning provides for the allocation within Russia of twelve physical and geographical countries. Each of them is distinguished by a homogeneous relief, similar climatic and biogeographic features. These countries are:
- Russian plain.
- Caucasus.
- Ural.
- Fennoscandia.
- Island Arctic.
- Western Siberia.
- Central Siberia.
- Northeast Siberia.
- Koryak-Kamchatka-Kuril country.
- Baikal country.
- Altai-Sayan country.
- Amur-Sakhalin country.
Modern economic zoning of the country also provides for the division of Russia into 12 economic regions. All of them vary in size and specialization. We list all of these areas:
- Central.
- Central Black Earth.
- Northern.
- Northwestern.
- North Caucasian.
- East Siberian.
- West Siberian.
- Far Eastern.
- Volga region.
- Ural.
- Volga-Vyatka.
- Kaliningrad.
Conclusion
What is zoning? This is the process of dividing a locality into parts (regions), distinguished by certain signs. Based on the goals and objectives, this process can be informative or constructive. Based on the internal content, it is customary to distinguish geographical, economic, demographic, climatic regionalization and its other types.