MOSCOW, February 17. /TASS/. The Arctic gradually changes from being a territory of ice, shift work and exclusively military interests. Over recent 10 years, the North has become more comfortable, however, new challenges have emerged - the aging population, problems with dialogue with indigenous peoples, and transport problems. Director of the Center for Arctic and Northern Urban Studies at the National Research University Higher School of Economics Nadezhda Zamyatina told TASS in an interview about whether it is possible to transform gradually the North's cities back into the tundra.

Civilization at door

- Mrs. Zamyatina, the Arctic nowadays is a most important strategic territory. What is the role of the so-called Decade of Arctic Exploration in its development, and what are main results?

- The main achievement is that people now are talking about the Arctic and are paying attention to it. For example, we now have the Arctic backbone settlements, identified according to criteria different from those used for the rest of the country. This is very important since the Arctic and generally the North have completely different development conditions. Take for example, small towns like Dikson, where 300 people are registered now, or Tiksi. From the point of view of standard criteria for backbone settlements, they would have remained unnoticed, but as for the Arctic, as the president has said, even a small settlement is of great strategic importance.

- How the life of people in the Arctic has changed over the recent decade?

- I communicate a lot with those who live or work in the Arctic. If we compare the North ten years ago and today, many say that it has become more comfortable. People note new shops, roads, and communication is improving as much as possible. That is, civilization is gradually coming to the Arctic.

- There is a widespread opinion that the Arctic is a territory for shift work that is not very suitable for permanent life. Is this perception changing?

- Right on the contrary, there have been more shifts, and, noteworthy, the more various modern technologies are coming to the North, the fewer people living permanently in the North are needed. True, shift work cannot be opposed to the existence of cities: in fact, they complement each other, but generally speaking, I expect the population in northern cities will decrease, at least due to higher labor productivity.

As for the preservation of permanent cities, a certain number of them certainly should be preserved. Here we can see a paradox that remains from the Soviet era. On one hand, there are measures to attract people to the North, at least the so-called northern allowances. On the other hand, there has been the idea that retirees should leave the North after they finish working there.

- Is this approach still valid?

- Both yes and no. The present tendency is towards having retirees stay in the North. Strange as it may seem, the North is getting older. In the past, first of all, the retirement age was earlier, and secondly, people used to leave the North when they were still of working age. Often, for example, when children grew up and chose other regions to study, so the parents traveled with them. Today's typical situation is children leaving to study at a university, but their parents staying in the North to pay off a mortgage, for example.

The bigger is a city, the better urban environment could be there, taking into account profitability. Even Soviet planners believed the northern cities were not suitable for mass settlement, and quite popular was the idea that it was necessary to limit population in the Far North, because living there was not too good for human health and, also, was economically impractical. I am also inclined to believe that the northern cities are primarily for highly qualified specialists, while workers are easily brought in for shifts. But then here is a trap in terms of scales - it is complicated to create in a small town an environment that meets requirements of qualified specialists.

- What needs to be improved in the Arctic to create a comfortable environment?

- First of all, medical care. Some locations are so remote that even an air ambulance can reach them within a few days only. It is necessary to increase transport connectivity, and specifically ground connectivity. These days, the ground transport system in the North is mostly off-road, and this must be taken into account and requires conditions created due to the climate specifics. I would say, the Arctic's main problem is not the cold, but the poor transport connectivity and a lack of stable communications, which could also be a solution to many challenges.

- The Internet and communications are probably a general big problem in the North.

- Absolutely. Including along the Northern Sea Route. For example, presently, navigators have to buy imported satellite images to monitor ice conditions and escort missions. Therefore, when asked what the Arctic needs, I always answer - good satellite coverage, satellite communications, Internet connection, including for making own ice forecasts, satellite monitoring. As for communications, there are different solutions - it can be a cable, or it can be an extended system of high-orbit satellites, or it can be a system of low-orbit satellites like Starlink. Technologies are available, but we need the will and funding to implement at least some of them.

Cities vs the tundra

- A most well-known measure aimed at preserving the population and promotion of the North is a preferential Arctic mortgage at 2% per annum. How much effective and demanded is this tool, in your opinion?

- Housing prices in the Arctic have grown, which means there is demand, so the program is in demand. However, it is not a factor of migration to the North. There are, for example, growing oil and gas cities where good new housing is really in demand, but it may be bought for rent, because in cities of the kind the rental housing market is highly developed. Therefore, the situation is not straightforward.

- From a demographic point of view, is it possible to forecast any changes in the Arctic, taking into account the effect from all support measures?

- The demographic problem is that the population is declining in the entire country. The generation of the 1990s has been entering the active working age, while back in the 1990s were born about twice fewer children than in the 1980s. Therefore, this is a nationwide problem. The North is closely connected with the rest of the country - we can't talk just about development of the North. And migration to the North is often not because it's good in the North, but because something is wrong in the country's other parts. For example, in 2013, I surveyed school students in Norilsk, asking them to say where their grandparents were born. Among 300 responses that I received, there were almost all hot spots of the former Soviet Union, from where had come parents of the children born in the 1990s.

People are looking for a good life in the North, but as soon as conditions are improving somewhere in the "main" settlement area, the northerners are moving there. To say that as we launch a mortgage or any other incentive, everyone will now go the North - this is not entirely correct, there must be an integrated approach.

- Anyway, traditionally, the highest demand for housing is in cities that are located near big enterprises. In this case, how to achieve a balance so that to prevent the "desertification" of other settlements?

- Rather "tundracation". Whatever you may call it, this is a classic problem of urbanization, relevant to the entire world. For example, in Greenland, similar small towns have been getting abandoned in the same way. In particular, sometimes there is an artificial liquidation of sparsely populated areas, from which it is "easier" to re-settle people. Often, however, resettlement is not a solution, but rather a way to put the problem in the shade.

First of all, resettlement of small-numbered indigenous peoples is generally a dubious measure, as their lives are closely linked to the natural environment, specific landscape, and very often they suffer maladaptation in the city. Secondly, quite often people simply return to their villages after resettlement to stay there illegally. For example, about two dozen residents return to the village of Varandey (officially ceased to exist in 2000 - TASS) in the Nenets Autonomous Region in the summer, and some stay there for the winter. "This is where I can feel that I live. What am I going to do in the city?" I heard from a woman, living in that "ghost village." Here, we need a different system of regulations, and, I'm afraid to say, amendments to the law on local self-governance - specifically for the North and the Arctic, because settlements are often liquidated precisely because the local administration is unable to fulfill its obligations stipulated in the law, and not at all because the settlement cannot be technically maintained.

Perhaps it is worth considering a practice, where companies, in exchange for certain incentives, could take over remote cities and towns under their control. It is necessary to provide companies with certain compensation, because otherwise there is a risk of weakening the industry, but generally speaking I am for calling a spade a spade: businesses already de facto maintain many resource cities and towns in the North, while the role of local administrations has been decorative.

- You have mentioned the program for adaptation of the indigenous population. What should it contain?

- To begin with, I would like to emphasize that relocation should be eyed only in cases where a person wants it. Nevertheless, the issue of preserving settlements should remain at the forefront. But if we talk about the program, it must necessarily take into account the fight against alcoholism.

- What measures in fighting alcoholism can be effective? For example, the introduction of prohibition or a time limit on sales?

- In fact, prohibition has been introduced in some Yakut villages for quite a time, and that was an initiative from the bottom. In the Arctic there are also time limits on sales, especially on holidays, such as Reindeer Herder's Day. The thing is, the locals have physiological features - the enzyme deficiency that does not allow the body to break down alcohol. Thus, the introduction of restrictions is an important measure of this fight.

- What social challenges in the Arctic have yet to be solved and how?

- Unfortunately, now remains the problem of suicide among indigenous peoples. Noteworthy, this is a problem of the entire Arctic, not only in Russia. In foreign practice, they are working actively to organize various leisure activities for young people. In Canada, for example, they have introduced a hip-hop training program for the local Inuit youth, and in Greenland a special program trains climbing. That is, classes for switching the focus of attention, a variety of leisure activities. Clearly, this work should be comprehensive, hip-hop alone will not solve the problem - people need leisure, medical rehabilitation programs, and conditions for employment. Unfortunately, the problem does exist, it is relevant and widespread, and it really needs to be addressed.

- To recap: how should be structured communication with the indigenous population not to harm their way of life, but at the same time to continue developing the Arctic?

- Communication should be interactive. We cannot decide for people what is best for them. We know that quite often things are decided in Moscow, while it is necessary first of all to ask the local population. We must understand that modern indigenous people are not what they used to be in the 18th century. It is no longer an issue of non-interference, since Arctic residents often address the center for assistance - for additional diesel fuel, generators, satellite phones. This is not the tundra that used to be 100 years ago.