Natalia Zubarevich


Natalya Vasilyevna Zubarevich is a Russian economist-geographer specializing on the socio-economic development of the regions. She has been the professor of the Department of Economic And Social Geography of Russia of the Moscow State University since 2005.

Biography

In 1976 Zubarevich graduated from the MSU Faculty of Geography. Since 1977 she has been working at the Department of Economic And Social Geography of Russia, Geography Faculty of Moscow State University. She became the associate professor in 1998 and full professor in 2005. In 2003 she defended her doctoral dissertation on the topic "Social development of Russian regions in the transition period".
Since 2003 Zubarevich has been combining teaching with the work of the director of the regional program of the Independent Institute of Social Policy. The Social Atlas of Russian Regions program helps researchers, investors, politicians, teachers and students. With its help, you can see the severity of existing problems in the regions, assess human capital and social infrastructure, get acquainted with modern trends in regional development.
In 2010 she became the full member of the Association of Russian Geographers and Social Scientists and the member of the Expert Council of the Association.
Zubarevich constantly participates as a leader and responsible executor in the programs of the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, as well as in international projects and programs, including projects of the United Nations Development Programme, the Moscow Bureau of the International Labor Organization, TACIS Programs, the World Bank Social Projects Fund, etc.
Zubarevich also lectures at universities and public bodies of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, the Netherlands, and Germany at the invitation of international organizations.
In September 2020, Zubarevich supported the Belarusian protests.

The theory of the Four Russias

Professor Zubarevich is the author of the "theory of the four Russias", developed by her from the center-peripheral model of space development that has existed in economic geography since the 1970s. Russia, in socio-economic terms, is internally heterogeneous, divided into relatively developed cities and a backward province.Russia-1 includes Moscow and the million-plus cities, where 21% of the Russian population lives. 12 cities of the country are mainly post-industrial society, they concentrate the middle class of Russia. The main internal migration is directed to these cities: millionaires attract the population of their regions, while Moscow attracts people from the whole country. This category may include cities with a population of over 500 thousand or over 250 thousand inhabitants. These people have access to jobs, markets, culture and the Internet.Russia-2 includes industrial cities, single—industry towns, with a population of 20 to 250 thousand inhabitants. The population of these cities, which makes up 25% of the country's population, is employed mainly in industry, is poorly educated and continues to lead, according to the author, a "Soviet lifestyle". The solvency of the population is low.Russia-3 includes the Russian hinterland like small towns and villages, where 38% of the total population of the country lives. In these localities, the population is shrinking and aging.Russia-4 includes the republics of the North Caucasus and southern Siberia that account for less than 6% of the country's population. The economy of these regions depends on the support of the federal center.