Unpromising villages

Unpromising, or literally perspectiveless villages (Russian: неперспективные деревни) was a term used by the Soviet government in 1960s–80s referring to the small rural settlements, which were considered to be not suitable for a planned economy.

The recommendations were drawn up in 1960 by the Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture of the USSR in accordance with the decisions of the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU of December 1959 on the development of new schemes of "regional and intra-economic planning" in rural areas.

It was assumed that this change in the settlement structure contributes to the better development of the socio-cultural and everyday life of the rural areas of the Soviet Union, bringing it closer to urban standards, as well as reducing the flow of migration to the cities.

Since 1968, repair works and construction were no longer carried out in settlements declared "unpromising", objects of social infrastructure (schools, shops, rural clubs and other facilities) were closed and transport links were limited.

The improvement and expansion of individual housing in the central estate (settlement where the administrative center of a kolkhoz or sovkhoz was located), was carried out with a constant lack of resources.

The liquidation of unpromising villages failed to reach the initial plans and had negative socio-economic consequences for the numerous northwestern and central regions of Russia, as well as Ural and Siberia.

The concentration process caused an increase in migration to major urban centers, leading to a population drop in the regions affected by the reform and demographic aging of the Russian countryside.