The cities of the RSFSR: trends and prospects of development

The relationship between function and city size in cities of the Russian part of the USSR with a population of over 100,000 is examined for the period 1939 to 1980. The results suggest that "the relationship between city growth and functional change is wavelike in nature. In the initial stages of development of a city, it is the construction and transport functions that predominate, and they are associated with high rates of population growth. Increasing functional complexity leads to slower rates of population growth. When the given city reaches a higher stage of development...it again begins to attract population, with relatively low rates of growth."