7th International Student Academic Conference “World Economy in the 21st Century: Globalization and Regionalization

Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia

2022-05-12

The conference took place at the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia. Renowned experts and scientists made presentations on the role of cities in the globalization and regionalization of the world economy. Participants of several sessions discussed the main issues of the social and economic development and urbanization of various regions of Russia and countries of the world.

“Citizens play an increasingly important part in the world economy. The global society has come to realize the necessity of smart cities. For local administration, it is crucial to govern their city in a way that would make it not only livable, but comfortable for the citizens.”
Veronika Kholina

Aleksey Raskhodchikov, Candidate of Sociology, Chairman of the Moscow Center of Urban Studies “City” Foundation, emphasized that a city is a complex system and cannot be studied based on only a handful of academic disciplines. It demands an integrated approach by multi-skilled professionals, including those who are adept in smart governance, in developing smart technologies and in creating a smart society.

The priority areas, according to Aleksey Raskhodchikov, should be urban ecology, social policy and a system of the so-called “live’ labs, i.e., research spaces in a living urban environment.

“The Moscow authorities have been actively involved in the comprehensive development of territories. Our research shows that in every district, there is a number of outstanding issues, among them lack of local infrastructure and an unbalanced labor market.”
Aleksey Raskhodchikov

Public health is inconceivable without a healthy urban environment. That was the main point of the presentation made by Anna Kontsevaya, Doctor of Medicine, Deputy Director for Scientific and Analytic Research of the National Medical Research Center for Therapy and Preventive Medicine of the Russian Ministry of Health.

“As much as we would love to think that we make conscious choices in what concerns our health, in fact, it is not so: the environment has a powerful impact on our decision-making processes.”
Anna Kontsevaya

“Urban environment is a complex phenomenon. We are currently developing tools that would allow medical professional to find out if the district in which a person lives is likely to encourage or, alternatively, discourage that person to follow a healthy lifestyle. We need a clear understanding of what urban-planning measures are necessary to promote healthy living for our citizens,” Anna Kontsevaya said.

Margarita Redina, Doctor of Economy, Professor of the Department for Environmental Safety and Product Quality Management of the Ecology Institute of the Peoples’ Friendship University raised the issue of changes in ecosystem services in urbanized areas and talked about a new project related to environmental monitoring of campus premises.

She also mentioned another promising area of work, which would include creating a new analysis and information system to be used in environmental monitoring for automated collection, storage, processing and retraction of data related to the environmental setting of the university territories. Such system should be able to make an objective assessment of the anthropogenic effect on nature, to define pressing environmental issues, to trace environmental changes and to assess the efficiency of nature conservation measures taken by the university.

“Our goal is to find the best solutions for preserving the green areas around our campus and to ensure the quality of living conditions for our students and teachers.”
Margarita Redina

Ivan Alov, expert of the City Economy Institute Foundation, raised the issue of spatial segregation of cities. He noted that due to sustainable development of megacities as attraction points of economic, political and social activities the issue of safety becomes all the more urgent.

“Just like any big city that came into existence and grew due to its unique social and spatial organization as well as to its quick population growth, Moscow is prone to various social risks. However, the most part of its citizens participate, directly or indirectly, in overcoming those risks,” he said.

Moderator

Veronika Kholina, Candidate of Geography, Associate Professor, Head of the Regional Economy and Geography Department of the People’s Friendship University;

Speakers

Aleksey Raskhodchikov, Candidate of Sociology, Chairman of the Moscow Center of Urban Studies “City” Foundation;
Margarita Redina, Doctor of Economy, Professor of the Department for Environmental Safety and Product Quality Management of the Ecology Institute of the Peoples’ Friendship University;
Abdelaziz Cherabi, Professor of University of Constantine 3;
Anna Kontsevaya, Doctor of Medicine, Deputy Director for Scientific and Analytic Research of the National Medical Research Center for Therapy and Preventive Medicine of the Russian Ministry of Health;
Ivan Alov, expert of the City Economy Institute Foundation;
Maria Tislenko, Assistant Professor of the Regional Economy and Geography Department of the People’s Friendship University.