ABSTRACT
There are seven cities from six countries qualifying for inclusion in this regional chapter: Moscow and St Petersburg in Russia, Kiev in Ukraine, Almaty in Kazakhstan, Baku in Azerbaijan, Tashkent in Uzbekistan and Tbilisi in Georgia. There are three reasons for inclusion:
The cities above have a long historical standing as the heart of civilization in their regions. Moscow, Kiev, Almaty and St Petersburg date from 1156, 822, 1854 and 1703 respectively; and Baku, Tashkent and Tbilisi emerged during the fifth, eleventh and fourth centuries Ad. Based upon these long histories, these cities have a strong tradition of ‘outside links’ involving trading. St Petersburg, for example, with little more than 200 years as capital of Russia from 1712, was the ‘window on the West’ of the Russian Empire.
With the dissolution of the USSR, the Union Republics have shaken off Soviet rule and regained their independence (Graybill and Mitchneck, 2008). Capital cities of Union Republics became capitals of their respective countries and encountered new opportunities for economic development. Such cities have special service needs for their government functions, as well as very often serving as gateways to their national economies (Brunn, 2003; Derudder et al, 2007). This changing of status immensely accelerated their integration into the world city network and is also associated with the conversion to market economic regimes, with cities at the forefront of economic opening and integration into the capitalist system (EBRD, 1995). During this transition, many leading international advanced producer service firms (lacking in the old command economies) actively seized the opportunity to locate in the major cities of these countries to set up affiliated offices.
The significance of strategic location has an influence on a wide range of urban connections in this region. Linking Europe to Asia, Eurasia is a key strategic core-region (Interstate Statistical Committee of the CIS, 2008). More specifically, many firms in the service industry come to target particular new market areas by selecting cities in the region. For example, lying between the Greater and Lesser Caucasus mountain ranges, Tbilisi is an important ‘hinge’ of connections in the Caucasus, and a strategic trans-Caucasian location. Hence the region and its cities have been at the forefront of the processes creating more economic opportunities in a diffusion of European economic development.
