Student youth of Arctic cities about the reasons for migration outflow

Hoteeva Evgeniya Aleksandrovna ORCID: 0000-0003-4153-1142 Leading Specialist, Petrozavodsk State University Budget Monitoring Center 31 Lenin Ave., office 503, Petrozavodsk, Republic of Karelia, 185910, Russia ehoteeva@petrsu.ru Rodion Inna Vladimirovna ORCID: 0000-0002-6243-4010 Graduate student, Petrozavodsk State University Budget Monitoring Center 185910, Russia, Karelia region, Petrozavodsk, Lenin Ave., 31 irodion@petrsu.ru

Simakova Anna Vasil'evna ORCID: 0000-0002-1990-9826 PhD in Sociology Simakova Anna Vasil'evna 185910, Russia, Karelia region, Petrozavodsk, Lenin Ave., 31 simakova@petrsu.ru

Introduction

The socio-economic development of the Russian Arctic zone is a key strategic objective in achieving the goal of ensuring the national interests of the Russian Federation in the Arctic. One of the main dangers, challenges and threats that pose risks to the development of the Arctic territories of Russia, according to the Strategy for the Development of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation and ensuring national security for the period up to 2035, remains migration outflow, leading to a decrease in the number of local population. The decrease in the number of residents of the region as a whole is inextricably linked with the reduction of the able-bodied population of the Russian Arctic, whose labor resources are extremely important in the process of development and development of the Arctic macroregion. The problem of reducing the active able-bodied inhabitants of the Arctic territories is most relevant for the European part of the Russian Arctic, where negative migration population growth is recorded annually, in contrast to the Western European and North American macroregions, in which there is a tendency to increase the number of local Arctic population ^{[1, p. 276]}.

According to Rosstat, in 2022, negative migration growth was recorded in the Arctic territories of the Republic of Karelia (-495 people), the Komi Republic (-1276 people), the Arkhangelsk Region (-1162 people), the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (-81 people) and the Murmansk Region (-3420 people). At the same time, a significant proportion of those who have dropped out are young people (Figure 1). More than half of the number of those who left the Arkhangelsk Region in 2022 (51%) is formed by the population aged 16 to 34 years. In the Republic of Karelia, the proportion of young people who migrated from the Arctic regions was 40%. About 30% of the total number of those who left was formed by the youth of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (35%) and the Komi Republic (34%). In the Murmansk region in 2022, the proportion of young people who migrated was 29%. An important place in these migration processes is occupied by educational migration, when young people leave their native regions in order to obtain a certain level of education with subsequent employment in their current places of residence, for various reasons not always wanting to return back to their native regions ^{[2, p. 250]}.

Figure 1. The share of young people in the total number of migrated population in 2022, %

Source: calculated by the authors from the Database of indicators of municipalities. URL: https://rosstat.gov.ru/dbscripts/munst/

The population of the AZ of the Russian Federation is quite urbanized: 86.6% of the population is urban in 2022. The largest Arctic cities in the European part of Russia by population are Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, which are industrial, military—strategic and educational centers of the Russian Federation. The universities of Arkhangelsk and Murmansk train personnel and scientific support for key sectors of the Arctic zone of Russia. In the Republic of Karelia, a multidisciplinary center in Segezha, implementing the federal project "Professionalism", which is aimed at the long-term development and qualitative transformation of the economic sector of the region, taking into account the regional specifics of enterprises in the Arctic regions of Karelia, is engaged in training personnel with secondary vocational education in demand in the AZ of the Russian Federation. However, despite the educational opportunities provided, the proportion of the local young population in these cities is decreasing annually, including under the influence of the migration factor.

The age cross-section of migration shows that in Arkhangelsk and Murmansk, negative migration growth of young people aged 20-24 years is periodically observed (Figure 3). As a result of post-educational migration, some graduates of leading universities and colleges of the largest Arctic cities return to their native regions as highly sought-after young specialists in the regional labor market ^{[3, p.46]}. However, some young people leave the Arctic cities, rushing to relatively close large megacities in search of a more comfortable life from a climatic point of view and more diverse and attractive conditions for personal self-realization.

Figure 3. Dynamics of the number of arrivals and departures aged 20-24 in Murmansk and Arkhangelsk from 2012 to 2022, people.

Source: calculated by the authors from the Database of indicators of municipalities. URL: https://rosstat.gov.ru/dbscripts/munst/

The preservation of local youth, socially and biologically adapted to the conditions of life in the Arctic, requires the improvement and development of the comfort of the urban environment. In order to develop Arctic cities, the Government of the Russian Federation has approved the "List of reference territories of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation", which includes 16 agglomerations from 26 settlements that perform functions to ensure national security and (or) function as a base for the development of mineral resource centers, the implementation of economic and (or) infrastructure projects in the Arctic." The Murmansk and Arkhangelsk agglomerations are highlighted in the formed list. Currently, master plans for long-term integrated socio-economic development are being developed for the main settlements of the Arctic.

The tasks set for the development of agglomerations and other supporting settlements are unthinkable without the participation of young people. The viability of the society in which young people live directly depends on ensuring the involvement of young people in social and economic life, because, as the German philosopher and sociologist Karl Manheim believes, youth is a hidden resource, whose special function is to act as a revitalizing intermediary when revitalization becomes necessary to adapt to rapidly changing or qualitatively new circumstances ^{[4, p. 575]}.

As a separate social community, in contrast to the demographic category, researchers distinguish the "youth of the Arctic", which, realizing various aspects of Arctic specificity in comparison with other territories, is distinguished by its involvement in the development of the environmental, social and economic agenda of the Arctic, as well as the realization of its potential within these areas ^{[5, p. 14]}. Due to the indicated relevance, the focus of research attention is on the problems of socio-demographic behavior, namely, the attitude of young people to places of current residence, as a starting point for the formation of attitudes of migration mobility of young residents of the territories of the AZ of the Russian Federation.

Literature review

In the Russian scientific literature, studies of the causes of youth migration are often associated with regional localization: migration processes in certain subjects of the Russian Federation, municipalities, federal districts, peripheral territories, as well as in designated macro-regions (the Far East, the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, Siberia, Border regions of Russia, examples of rural-urban migration). The researchers seek to identify the migration motives of representatives of the youth social group who leave their hometowns in favor of studying or working in the largest agglomerations of Russia, which are the centers of attraction.

The most common approach to identifying the reasons that encourage young people to migrate is to conduct questionnaire surveys, where, based on the responses of respondents, through the prism of assessing the socio-economic indicators of the city, researchers determine the key motives of youth migration attitudes. Most authors agree that the main determinants of migration are the economic problems of cities (low wages, high unemployment, lack of career opportunities, etc.), which young people who are not burdened with anything at this stage of their development are not ready to accept ^[6-8].

Along with the economic problems that encourage young people to leave the cities of their current residence, researchers identify problems in the field of education, namely: lack of opportunity to study for a profession of interest in educational organizations located directly in the city, due to budget cuts, optimization of the number of higher educational institutions, as well as a decrease in the overall quality of educational services provided ^[9-11].

In addition, a number of researchers, as factors provoking the educational migration of young people from cities of current residence to the central part of Russia, note the lack of career guidance measures aimed at familiarizing school students with the opening of new enterprises, employment opportunities and in-demand professions ^[12,13].

If we talk about migration studies in the Arctic territories, then according to the results of surveys, researchers reveal the reasons provoking young people to leave the AZ of the Russian Federation. It is interesting that many of the reasons for the migration of young people from Arctic cities are similar to the all-Russian problems. This is a low standard of living, an undeveloped social infrastructure, as well as a lack of opportunities to find interesting, high-paying jobs with career opportunities ^[14-17]. Migration attitudes of young people caused by socio-economic reasons are noted by researchers as characteristic of those students who study under educational programs of the Arctic orientation, implying further employment of graduates directly in the AZ of the Russian Federation, however, dissatisfaction with the level of wages, high prices, economic instability, as well as conditions for education, cultural development and housing It forms the desire of young people to leave their current places of residence ^{[18, pp. 243-244]}. That is, most of the reasons for the departure of young people are related to the "search for a better life and a new experience," but in another city. Quite unique and specific for the AZ of the Russian Federation are natural and climatic factors, identified by researchers as one of the main reasons motivating young people to leave Arctic cities in favor of a milder climate. ^{[19, pp. 97-100]} At the same time, this mild climate should be combined with the presence of a variety of opportunities for a high level of socio-cultural life.

In foreign scientific practice, due to the absence of the problem of population reduction in the Arctic territories, the key topic for research is migration to rural cities, caused, from the point of view of researchers, also by socio-economic indicators of villages, where even with the possibility of online learning, local residents somehow carry out educational migration to regional urban centers, where higher standard of living and more opportunities for career growth ^[20-28]. Then educational migration acts as a kind of social elevator and an opportunity to temporarily gain a foothold in a new territory by living in a hostel, acquiring and expanding a social circle of communication. Foreign researchers are also investigating a number of factors that to varying degrees influence the formation of migration attitudes in the country, including natural and climatic conditions, territorial peripherality, resource availability, as well as the ethnic composition of the population and others ^[23-33].

The above studies cover a fairly wide range of factors influencing migration and assessing the attractiveness of the territory, however, the factors identified by the researchers are unnecessarily generalized into groups (economic, social, political, etc.) united by migration theories. For example, N. Y. Zhuravlev, based on a number of factors, depending on the willingness of young people in northern cities to leave their current places of residence, identifies four groups of migration strategies: 1) moving; 2) waiting for moving; 3) waiting for conditions; 4) arrangement ^{[34, pp. 185-188]}. O. E. Akimova, S. K. Volkov and E. G. Efimov, in turn, noted economic, social, cultural and leisure activities as factors influencing the attractiveness of Russian territories, where the population migrates to a much greater extent ^{[35, p. 390]}.

The study of the relational aspect is insufficiently detailed and in-depth, which allows us to answer the following questions: how do young people relate to their city, and what ideas about the city they are guided by when forming a migration decision, what relational aspects lie in the genesis of migration? Thus, most studies on the topic of youth migration are associated with low estimates of the socio-economic environment, which researchers receive according to the set of factors proposed for evaluation by youth, formulated by researchers. The totality of the assessed factors is often associated with key life events of the younger generation and attitudes towards a comfortable life. In practice, the willingness to migrate and the migration decision are formed under the influence of various factors and parameters that form an aggregate opinion and a characteristic portrait of the city as a whole. When determining migration, the context of decision-making plays a role, that is, which ideas of young people about the city influence the construction of their migration mobility. In this regard, the purpose of the study was to clarify and concretize the public opinion of young people about the factors and causes of outgoing youth migration and to identify ideas about the city as a place of departure, under the influence of which migration intentions are formed. The object of the study was the student youth of Arctic cities, which in the short term will potentially enter the labor markets. The subject is the public opinion of students about the causes of population migration and their ideas about cities, explaining the migration outflow.

The scientific novelty of the research is determined by the addition of knowledge about the ideas of young people about the Arctic cities in which they currently live, as well as about the perception of cities by young people as places of residence, self-realization and socialization. The methodological significance of the research results lies in the fact that a range of descriptive characteristics of the northern Arctic cities in the eyes of young people has been identified, which are applicable for measurement in further sociological surveys using the questionnaire method. Clarifying the designated ideas of the youth of Arctic cities has scientific significance in developing approaches aimed at preserving the young population of Arctic cities.

Research methodology and methodology

In socio-spatial terms, it is worth noting the deformations of the settlement and settlement structure due to the unregulated sprawl of the largest and largest cities, the influence of spatial and territorial imbalances between the European and Eastern parts of Russia, as well as the influence of hyperurbanization and agglomeration processes ^{[36, p. 8]}.

Within the framework of the socio-spatial approach to the analysis of migration flows and demographic structures, there is a tendency towards centripetal migration in combination with the "transit, buffer" nature of population exchange for local migration "recipients" who attract people from economically less developed cities ^{[37, p. 456]}. After working for some time in a larger city than the original one, a person moves to even larger agglomerations of the European part of Russia.

Young people are rushing from small to larger cities, motivated to receive vocational education, search for attractive jobs, earnings and, in general, improve their quality of life. At the same time, the peripheral northern regions lose out in the eyes of young people in terms of living conditions and meeting their needs: "a zone of social desertification is being formed in the northern hinterland" ^{[38, p. 8]}. Modern practices of consumer behavior and its inherent values, and the construction of a qualitatively new educational, labor, business and socio-cultural environment make large megacities more attractive to young people and act as attraction factors ^{[39, p. 232]}. The definition of the driving forces of migration is reduced to the problem of studying human migration behavior, which represents potential and real actions of people aimed at the desire and realization of a change of residence ^{[40, p. 25]}.

Based on the fact that one of the basic questions of migration theory is "Why do some people start migrating, while others stay in place?", the theoretical basis of the study includes provisions on migration behavior: 1) potential readiness and ability to migrate, formed regardless of participation or not in migration, which is the first initial stage of the three migration process; 2) a motivated decision to move is formed at the junction of the need and objective living conditions of a person ^{[41, p. 90]}. In this regard, a study was conducted on how the youth characterizes the northern cities in which they permanently live and study, what characteristic features they identify for their city in terms of making a migration decision and how to explain the observed migration outflow. Drawing up a social portrait of the city of residence from the characteristics given by young people is an aspect of studying the territorial identity of young people in terms of attitudes towards their place of residence: peculiarities of perception of the city as a territory for the implementation of life plans, employment, quality of infrastructure, distinctive features ^{[42, p. 15]}. All these approaches address the issue of the formation of attitudes of youth migration mobility and youth perceptions of their places of residence in the context of solving the question "to leave or stay, and why?".

The study was conducted by the method of focus groups with students receiving vocational education in higher and secondary vocational education programs in Murmansk, Arkhangelsk and Segezha. Students of 2-4 courses of various fields of study (finance, land management, information systems and technologies, welder, cook, etc.) took part in five focus groups. The number of groups ranged from 8 to 20 people. The gender composition of the groups was presented as follows: the dominant number of boys in the groups of secondary vocational education and girls in the groups of higher education. The young men took the most active part in the conversations. The geography of the focus groups is determined by the Arctic cities, where there is a migration outflow of young people and a decrease in the population, despite the presence of universities and colleges for vocational education and future employment in large companies and organizations of the AZ of the Russian Federation. Representatives of the student youth were chosen as participants, as this is the most mobile group in terms of migration in the phase of building life plans and career self-determination, which is relevant to the topic of the formation of migration attitudes.

It is important to note some methodological features when conducting focus groups. The first is that communication was mainly in the nature of indirect intra-group interaction through moderators, as participants expressed their opinions on each issue in turn, expressing their agreement, differing opinion or complementing an already expressed opinion. The peculiarity is due to the influence of the context and the situation, since the focus groups were held on the basis of educational institutions during the period of classes. Secondly, this context caused the restraint of the emotional side of the participants, which was compensated by characteristic statements with irony, remarks or expressions of feelings of pride and sympathy during the expression of their opinions.

The topics of the guide included such issues as assessing migration attitudes towards departure or consolidating and reflecting on the designated position; a discussion about why people settle remote, peripheral northern territories; what distinguishes residents of the North from residents of other regions of Russia and is it possible today to talk about such a consciousness of residents of northern cities as "northerner", "resident of the Arctic"; what causes feelings of anxiety, regret and pride at the thought of a place of residence; the projective part with the construction of a situation of consolidation in the place of residence and the resulting ideas, emotions, plans. The range of questions asked to the groups affected the behavioral and relational aspects of the topic under study.

A content analysis was conducted based on the transcripts of the focus groups. A categorical matrix was formed, in which 13 thematic categories were allocated (the state of the environment, climatic conditions, wages, the budget of the region, employment, housing, infrastructure, social relations, education, professional development, leisure, internal motives, demographic situation) and 88 units of account with frequency determination. The dictionary of content analysis was compiled from the most frequently repeated words and a clear semantic meaning from the point of view of the above-mentioned research issues.

Results

The results of the content analysis represent a set of semantic generalizing characteristics that were given by young people to the cities of their current place of residence in terms of assessing their readiness to leave or stay in the Arctic city. The content analysis units and narratives of the focus groups were interpreted by the researchers in terms of characteristics that young people identify as significant from the point of view of forming attitudes of migration mobility. All identified characteristics of cities are divided into two groups: characteristics that encourage migration; and characteristics that deter migration (Table 1).

Table 1. Characteristics of Arctic cities that influence the migration mood of young people

Source: compiled by the authors based on the analysis of the results of focus groups

As the students noted, one of the important factors of consolidation at the current place of residence is attachment to the city, which has become native and familiar during their stay in it, and therefore forms a desire to stay in the territories they have lived ("someone likes this city, there are many memorable moments here, and a person does not want to leave", "with they got used to childhood and do not want to change anything, they got used to the place", "everything here can be said native, familiar; if some special conditions do not arise, then I probably would like to live here", "I was born here, my family, my friends and acquaintances are here, I am here comfortable"). The so-called habit of living in the North is also expressed in intolerance to the southern flora and fauna, as well as climatic conditions significantly different from those present in the Arctic ("there are no dangerous insects here, the same ticks that are the closer to the equator; this is a huge plus to go out into the forest or outside", "I can't stand all kinds of animals, insects and so on: every time I'm in the south, it's torture for me, some kind of bee is a complete nightmare", "we are all from Karelia as Northerners and we are used to this climate, it will be hard for us to get used to the hot climate", "the climate is familiar, familiar").

An important characteristic of the city that deters migration, according to respondents, is the beautiful nature of the Arctic zone, which is opposed to the nature of other Russian regions ("nature, here are rocks, a waterfall", "polar night, polar day; this causes great delight among people, so you even record a video, post and mark the time of the hour nights, and the sun is shining here", "Karelia is a very beautiful forest, there are many attractions that bring people to Karelia, many are surprised by nature, the air is clean", "Murmansk has a very beautiful nature").

Comparing the places of their current residence with megacities, where the youth of the AZ of the Russian Federation traditionally migrate, students noted safety as an advantage of living in small northern cities, as well as the regularity and walking distance of all necessary institutions ("now we can say that they move from big cities for protection, because there is a much higher chance of all these ... (note: social cataclysms)", "you live in this region and feel that no matter what happens in the world, this region touches the maximum tangentially... it is quite rare for some kind of climatic disasters here, if a person does not try to do something", "in St. Petersburg it is difficult to get somewhere by taxi, through the metro, in Segezha you can just walk").

The comparison of the Arctic cities in which respondents currently live with metropolitan megacities is also justified by their territorial proximity, due to which, from the point of view of students, the European North, being close to the Central Federal District, is more developed in terms of socio-cultural infrastructure ("if we consider the western north and the eastern north, then We are different after all: it seems to me that we are more cultured, probably because, most likely, we are closer to the administrative center, the infrastructure is more developed here, education, more money than there", "there is a much better connection with the center of Russia than Siberia").

According to respondents, hopes for the development of the city also form a desire to stay in the current territories. Students consider their current places of residence as economically significant cities in the development of which the state is interested ("Severodvinsk is a strategic shipbuilding center there, specialists come there; "the Northern Sea route will begin with us, construction has already begun, now I think this is such an important moment"). Respondents also noted that urban infrastructure is improving in their cities, so they believe in the possibility of urban renewal, which after a while it will be difficult to recognize ("I would prefer to stay because there are restructuring; they promised to build a museum, I think it will be cool and fun, " the city is thriving thanks to its financing, the park was built, the boulevard was made", "Segezha is developing, going forward; in 10 years, I think, it will be impossible to find out", "recently Murmansk has been ennobled: parks, fountains, green areas").

A characteristic of the city that deters migration, in addition, from the point of view of respondents, is the presence of a northern wage supplement, which attracts potential local labor to stay in the Arctic ("people who were born here, it is simply not profitable for them to leave for another city if they have career growth and good wages, they will have to stay here because there is a polar surcharge, more than 70% is not a small amount", "it is better to stay here, as already said, we have northern salary allowances").

The units of account are quite widely represented, which reflect the ideas of young people about the city, which encourage migration. The topic of social ties, namely the influence of personal and family circumstances, came to the fore in the discussion of young people about the impact on readiness for migration. According to the frequency of mentions, family and friends have a primary impact on the decision of young people to move out of the city. Moreover, the impact of close social ties is twofold. On the one hand, young people strive to gain a foothold where their parents live, and do not want to move too far away from their relatives, who at the initial stage of building a career can provide significant assistance ("I was born here, my family is here", "you can live in principle, the path is trodden, parents, if anything, will help"). On the other hand, the desire to separate from parents, acquire independence and independence can significantly affect the decision of young people to move from the city where their family lives ("do you want to completely change your life, break away from your family and start living as an independent person from scratch", "this is the romance that you make yourself, no one helps you, you're the only one starting from scratch"). The same dual nature of influence on the decision on migration is exerted by friends who live either in the same city ("here are memories, friends") or outside it ("most likely, I will also go to St. Petersburg because my friends and my close circle are there"). Social contacts are more often considered in the context of securing a current residence in the city, or returning to their hometown after receiving professional education. Territorial proximity to the family is presented as a significant factor of belonging and self-identification in society, and at the same time serves as a way to minimize stress at the stages of growing up and self-determination of student youth. The remaining characteristics and ideas of young people about the ideal socio-economic conditions of their development in the city are factors under the influence of which young people form an attitude towards potential migration from the Arctic city.

It should be noted that the very fact that the population is leaving, and the number of the city has been significantly decreasing in recent years, is voiced by young people and is the reason why, in the opinion of young people, the attitudes of the population towards migration from the Arctic city are being formed more massively (for example, due to the "transformation of Murmansk into a "shift" city"). Figure 4 shows in more detail the characteristics and features of cities that contribute to the desire to migrate to other cities, ranked by the proportion of mentions (with the exception of 26% of mentions related to personal and family circumstances).

Figure 4. Characteristics of Arctic cities that contribute to the formation of attitudes towards migration to other cities

Source: compiled by the authors based on the analysis of the results of focus groups

The most relevant characteristic, considered in the eyes of respondents as a factor of being pushed out of their current place of residence, is the lack of an opportunity to successfully find a job in their chosen profession. Young students consider their cities as industrial territories, where "factories" occupy a dominant place among the jobs provided. Unwilling, having a humanitarian or other education unrelated to industry, to work outside the specialty at the factory, graduates of educational institutions decide to leave the Arctic cities in search of a suitable job for them ("I do not plan to stay because I do not want to work at the factory", "there is very little work for IT specialists"). The students also noted that they do not see any potential or opportunities for building a successful career in the city of their current place of residence ("I would leave because I do not see the financial opportunity to open myself up anymore, there is no potential", "... there are no prospects or there are much more of them in other cities").

Limited opportunities for spending free time, as well as harsh climatic conditions, are also one of the characteristics of Arctic cities that encourage migration. From the respondents' point of view, there are very few places in their cities where they could have fun, sit with friends or do anything ("there is almost nothing for young people here", "the ski section is closing, the coaches are leaving"). The harsh climate, expressed in extremely long winters and constant frosts, also forces young people to move to other cities where the climatic conditions are milder ("I want the summer to last for more than one month", "a lot of friends left precisely because it is very cold here").

Unattractive salaries with non-compensating expenses in the north with a northern surcharge, which, according to respondents, also have a significant impact on the desire to leave the Arctic territories, round out the top five characteristics. According to the students, the "poles" offered by the state are actually not able to compensate for the expenses forced by residents of northern cities, where goods and services are already more expensive in themselves than in neighboring, non-Arctic territories ("yes, people get more here, but utilities are more expensive, products are more expensive, if we compare with the middle lane, then we get bash on bash", "as for the Arctic, I would like to add that, of course, we have them and we seem to earn more than people not in the North, but in any case we spend on expensive heating, which we need in cold winters and also winter clothes don't cost five rubles").

The next most frequently mentioned categories are insufficient housing stock, high cost of housing, as well as the poverty of the city. As the students noted, real estate prices do not correlate with the salaries of local residents, and not every citizen can afford to buy an apartment ("expensive real estate", "apartments are not being built, but housing is becoming more expensive"). In addition, from the point of view of students, despite the economic and strategic importance of the Arctic cities in which they live, the subjects of the AZ of the Russian Federation, being dependent on the "decision-making center", experience significant financial difficulties caused by excessive taxes and the lack of an adequate number of benefits provided by the state ("the tax is very large and the region has there is very little money left").

Important, according to respondents, are problems in the field of infrastructure, which include the unpleasant appearance of the city, poor-quality performance of public services, as well as an undeveloped transport system ("people have stopped absolutely thinking about the visual component, they are just building cheap housing", "emergency housing, we have a lot of it and are in no hurry to solve it this problem", "constant "mud", icicles falling on your head and around", "everything that melts lies here, it doesn't go anywhere", "transport accessibility is poorly implemented in the city itself"). It is also important to note that students, in comparison with their current place of residence with megacities, prefer the latter for the reason that they have formed a romanticized idea of a better life in big cities, which is not accessible to everyone ("big cities are associated with success, with something beautiful from movies").

The next most frequently mentioned characteristic contributing to the formation of a desire to leave the Arctic territories is the indicators of a decrease in the city's population. Respondents noted that the number of local residents in their cities is significantly decreasing, and this fact forces graduates of educational institutions to leave the city, because they do not want to live where people are leaving en masse ("Constant reduction of people, we seem to be in the leaders in population decline among the regions, even in the top three," "such a feeling that there are no young people in Murmansk at all").

In addition, it is important to note the specifics of the cities where the study was conducted. Thus, respondents from the city of Segezha mostly mentioned the importance of personal and family circumstances in deciding to migrate to other cities, where the presence of friends, as well as family ties in the place of current residence, is a key factor in forming a desire to stay in the Arctic territories, or leave them in favor of those cities where at the moment there is a family and a close environment. The youth of Murmansk are most concerned about the climatic conditions of the city, expressed in a long winter accompanied by severe frosts, as well as in the polar night and the polar day, which directly affect the general health of local residents. Arkhangelsk students perceive their current place of residence as an area with obvious infrastructure problems, including the unpleasant appearance of the city's buildings and a significant number of emergency housing.

It is also necessary to point out the specifics of the responses of students in the humanities and technical areas of training. Realizing the impossibility of successfully finding a job in their chosen humanitarian specialty, future graduates are already thinking about moving to the center of Russia, where, in their opinion, they have more chances to find a job that is interesting for them. Students of technical specialties, in turn, are less concerned about employment, and other factors are already noted as characteristics of Arctic cities that form the desire to migrate: the level of wages, leisure, climatic conditions, etc.

It is important to cancel the specifics of the responses of students of secondary vocational education and higher education. College students, unlike university students, are less concerned about further employment. Having some confidence in finding a job in their specialty, students express interest in the prospects of development along their chosen career path, which, from the point of view of students, are absent in their cities. Nevertheless, students of secondary vocational education speak about the obvious advantages of small towns in relation to megacities, expressed in minimizing the time spent on the road. In addition, college students note that they have a habit of living in the north in the absence of heat and an excessive number of insects. An important factor influencing the decision on migration, according to students of the secondary vocational education system, is family and close environment. College students noted that they would like to live where their friends and relatives are. Students of higher education, in turn, demonstrate concern about the opportunities and prospects of employment in the cities of their current residence. Students raise questions about the economic components of cities: their standard of living, infrastructure development, financial support. The northern harsh climate is noted by students of the higher education system, rather as a threat than a habit, and therefore they demonstrate a desire to move to warmer regions.

The analysis of the responses from the point of view of the gender factor deserves special attention. The male representatives, taking into account the existing problems and advantages of the cities in which they live, focused on the future, while the girls were concerned about the present. The young men actively analyzed the current situation in their current places of residence and actively offered possible solutions to existing problems, which, from the point of view of students, would reduce the outflow of young people. In addition, male representatives are more concerned about the functional component of cities: transport accessibility, housing and communal services, the availability of educational institutions and places for leisure. The young men also actively raised the issue of wages in the north, which, on the one hand, according to students, attract, however, with their allowances, but on the other hand, are offset by expenses caused by living in harsh climatic conditions. Girls, in turn, as already noted, focus more on the present, and this present is mainly expressed by concern about the visual component of European Arctic cities, as well as their nature. Representatives of the female sex more often pay attention to the appearance of cities, and note the presence of dilapidated housing and "gray" buildings that cause distress, both for the students themselves and, according to their observations, their friends who come to stay. Nevertheless, the girls celebrate the beauty of the Arctic nature, rich in forests and water resources.

Conclusion

The student youth is at the stage of self-determination, in which, on the one hand, students perceive their places of residence as "native" and "familiar", and on the other, wanting to separate and migrate to other subjects of the Russian Federation, they "try on" the opportunity to leave. Summarizing the ideas of young people about Arctic cities, the authors propose some measures aimed at securing youth in Arctic cities, depending on the identified causes of migration (Table 2).

Table 2. Correlation of measures aimed at securing youth in Arctic cities with the causes of migration

It is also important that the study reveals the peculiarities of perception of Arctic cities, which potentially deter young people from migration: This is the identification of cities as native places connected with parents and personal memories; safe and significant from a military, strategic and economic point of view; as well as transforming and developing, as students noted the positive changes taking place. Special strategic programs such as "Living in the North" also contribute to improving the life of Arctic cities.2030" in the Murmansk region, comprehensively aimed at improving living conditions in the northern region. An example of mentoring is presented by the creation and development of the Arctic educational and industrial cluster on the basis of the GAPOU RK "Northern College" in Segezha, which creates the ground for joint work of the city-forming enterprise and the college to consolidate young personnel. In the Arkhangelsk region, the Arctic agenda is represented by the direction of development of the region as a scientific center of the entire North European region of Russia. This direction develops the activities of the "National Arctic Scientific and Production Consortium", which implements one of its directions the popularization of Arctic-oriented educational programs and scientific research conducted in the interests of the AZ of the Russian Federation. The study showed that studying not only the causes of youth migration, but also their ideas about Arctic cities provides an opportunity to look at Arctic cities through the eyes of the younger generation.

The results obtained in the framework of the study complement and enrich the previously obtained conclusions by colleagues from other scientific schools engaged in the study of youth in the Arctic territories. When studying the migration moods of young people, in addition to the "typical" reasons for departure, scientists from the Lomonosov NArFU, MAGU, the Kola Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Ammosov NEFU, in addition to the "typical" reasons for departure, reveal the reasons that potentially deter migration moods among young people - training in "Arctic specialties", emotional attachment to the northern territories, the inner social circle, understanding the risks of a big city, etc. In this aspect, the authors' results are similar. However, in already published studies, when referring to the topic of urban social space, attention was paid, as a rule, only to territories within one subject of the AZ of the Russian Federation. The authors of this study examined Arctic cities with different status and socio-economic orientation in aggregate, through the attitude of young people towards them as a current and potential place of residence, self-realization and socialization in a single Arctic space. The formed characteristics of the cities themselves through such a construct as the youth's ideas about cities in the context of migration attitudes complement previously conducted research and, in turn, more clearly identify strengths and growth points for solving problems to increase the attractiveness of Arctic cities for local and visiting youth.