doi.org/10.52340/eab.2025.17.04.09

Before the collapse of the USSR, Georgia’s settlement system evolved in line with the country’s socio-economic development. However, the post-Soviet economic crisis, coupled with a catastrophic decline in labor market demand and intensified emigration, disrupted the regional distribution of the population. This led to the atrophy of the urban settlement system, the erosion of the city-forming base, and a slowdown in urbanization processes. In the context of an immature market economy, state regulation of settlement patterns, the organization of new settlements, and the management of internal and external migration flows became impossible. These challenges were further exacerbated by sharp depopulation trends in donor regions, which significantly weakened the state’s ability to influence settlement dynamics. Policies aimed at curbing the growth of large cities and stimulating the socio-economic development of medium and small towns proved entirely ineffective. The collapse of the primary city-forming sector – industry – laid the groundwork for the concentration of the population in Georgia’s major urban centers. This was compounded by large-scale unemployment in mining regions, which triggered overpopulation pressures and intensified one-way migration flows. Rural settlements faced an equally critical situation, marked by demographic decline and economic stagnation. The decline in mechanization and the predominance of labor intensive industries in the agricultural sector, combined with the inefficiency of the workforce, have contributed to intensive and irrational migration flows from rural areas. The annexation of part of Georgia’s territory and the mechanical isolation of segments of the established settlement system have further undermined the development of a unified national settlement structure.
In this difficult context, it is imperative to undertake a comprehensive study of settlement transformation and to formulate a coherent settlement policy. This requires the design and substantiation of prognostic settlement schemes, the identification of the regional distribution of settlement generating employment, and the determination of rational migration pathways for the population. Such measures are essential to prevent both excessive concentration and complete depopulation, while ensuring the effective management of internal and external migration processes.

Keywords: Settlement crisis; depopulation; migration flows; urbanization decline; post-Soviet transformation
JEL Codes: J61, R23, R11, R12, O18

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