Re-colonising the Arctic: The preparation of spatial planning policy in Murmansk Oblast, Russia

Abstract

The Russian state is strengthening its positions in the Arctic in order to exploit its resources, develop transport routes, and reverse depopulation trends in the country's northern regions. The ambitions of the Russian state to ‘recolonise’ the Arctic pose questions about the role of the region in the policy-making process dominated by the central state and the emerging geography of the Arctic. This article analyses these relationships using Murmansk Oblast’ as a case study. It argues that (i) there is a shift in Russia's Arctic policy – from withdrawal to re-engagement via mega-projects in energy and transport infrastructure sectors. Changes in global energy markets suggest that Arctic expansionism driven by energy projects is not sustainable; (ii) the policy framework remains incoherent as the central state revises its priorities; (iii) within the emerging polity, regions are neither ‘transmission belts’ of national policy nor independent players; instead, regions such as Murmansk Oblast’ are produced via multiscalar processes of policy making, institutionalisation, and discursive practices.