Dagestan Youth in Saint Petersburg: Social Map of Resettlement

Introduction. Using the method of social mapping of urban space in the study of youth from the Republic of Dagestan living in St Petersburg, the author attempts to create the map of the resettlement of Dagestan youth. The author also considers factors affecting the geography of resettlement: economic, discrimination against migrants from the Caucasus during attempts to rent a flat, attracting “self-networks” to search for housing, etc. The main research goal is to understand whether there is the phenomenon of compact residence of migrants from Dagestan in St Petersburg. Methodology and sources. The methodological basis of the research consists of the following approaches: socio-ecological (R. Park, E. Burgess), sociospatial (C. Booth, O. Trushchenko), constructivist (B. Anderson, R. Brubaker). The possibilities and limitations of the tools used in mapping urban space are examined: it is concluded that a questionnaire is best suited for the study of highly mobile groups of the population, such as internal migrants, and despite the impossibility of calculating the general totality. Results and discussion. The resettlement map of Dagestan youth reflects the peripheral type of residence in actively built up outlying districts, thereby real estate rental prices in these areas are the lowest in the city, and the tendency of resettlement compactness was recorded, including depending on the place of departure. A high degree of closeness of the environment was revealed – 73,3 % of respondents faced a biased attitude due to their national / religious affiliation when trying to rent an apartment. In a “closed” environment, migrants are forced to turn to more effective mechanisms of primary groups and seek housing through social networks (that is, real people and the Internet). Conclusion. Despite the well-established opinion of experts, that the local residence of migrants is undesirable and even dangerous, since the load on the social sphere is increasing, the district’s infrastructure is changing, acquiring features that are not characteristic of the majority living, the number of conflicts, etc., Nevertheless, this process is not controlled by the state in any way: newcomers rent apartments or buy housing in areas with the lowest prices, thus, the localization of migrants' residence is a natural process occurs by itself

Authors: Shekera E. A.

Direction: Sociology

Keywords: Dagestan youth, internal migration, St Petersburg, the method of social mapping of urban space

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