Urban competitiveness and agglomeration development: A case study of Perm and Yekaterinburg

The present paper is devoted to the features of agglomeration processes in Russia that are connected with the transfer from central planning in economics and urban planning to spontaneous processes of urban and agglomeration development. Much attention is paid to the features of the Perm and Yekaterinburg agglomerations that are in the process of transformation from the industrial to dynamic stage of development. Conclusions about the relation between competitiveness of large cities and specific social capital of the city which aims at the active metropolization policy are depicted. Methodic approaches to the assessment of agglomeration transformation for reducing negative external effects and increasing competitiveness are under consideration. Territorial capital theory with consideration of the features of developing and transitive economies is considered to be the theoretical basis for this paper.