Dull Place or Green Idyll: Local Identity and Migration Intentions of Small City Youth

Maria Gunko and Andrey Medvedev

Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, 2018, vol. 109, issue 5, 661-676

Abstract: Nowadays small cities often lose population. In countries which are forerunners of the demographic transition, depopulation is mainly driven by out‐migration of youth. Through a case study of students from small Russian cities, this paper explores the nature of the association between local identity (LI) and migration intentions. The study suggests that young people with a stronger LI are on average more prone to return to their native cities after graduation. This ‘traditional’ relationship may be related to the difficulties in maintaining strong ties to a place of personal significance when not residing there in the Russian context. However, overall, youth tend towards a negative association with their cities and LI is formed as an opposition: the denial of place validity. Therefore, both way associations are possible. While a strong LI may influence the intention to migrate, it may also develop as an adaptation mechanism for those forced to return.

Date: 2018
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