Functional Centers in the Major Metropolitan Areas of the Republic of Kazakhstan

The settlement patterns of the Republic of Kazakhstan were predominantly formed during the Soviet period. Its structures, characterised by uniformity and monotony, began to change rapidly under the conditions of a market economy. During the period of Kazakhstan's independence, the territories of metropolitan areas, which were formed during the Soviet period and continue to grow around major regional centres, increased. Today, Kazakhstan's metropolitan areas play an important role in the socio-economic life of the country. The cores of these metropolitan areas are becoming strong points of attraction for the labour force and economic potential, and as a result they are also becoming major migration destinations. The oversaturation of general metropolitan areas centres with both people, facilities and services, as well as the government's interest in urban development, has prompted planners to consider changing the Soviet model of developing supra-urban structures. In recent years, alternative approaches to the analysis of the settlement system have become prevalent, with a focus on the consideration of polycentric structures. These are defined by the balanced development of territories based on several centres. This study examines the internal spatial structure of the first-level (largest) metropolitan areas of Kazakhstan, based on the functional diversity of the territory, as indicated by 2GIS geodata. The methods employed in this study to identify clusters based on the Anselin Local Moran's Index allow us to conclude that the largest metropolitan areas of Kazakhstan in the post-Soviet period exhibit a monocentric model of functioning. The hierarchical levels of functional activity centres, identified on the basis of Vysokovskiy's irregular areas urban model methodology, are concentrated mainly in the central and semi-peripheral areas of cities of republican subject significance, while local centres are located in small towns and rural settlements. At the current stage, we can therefore speak about the developing polycentric structure of core cities.