Kuzbass in Transition: Development Strategies for Revitalizing an Old Industrial Region

Abstract

This article explores the challenges of revitalizing Kuzbass (Kemerovo Oblast), an old-industrial region, within the context of global and national challenges, including economic fragmentation, Russia’s evolving economic model amidst sanctions, and the global energy transition. This study continues a series of research projects implemented by the Institute of Economics and Industrial Engineering of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and analyses Kuzbass’s revitalization model from the 1990s and 2000s and its impact on current development. The research uses chronological, historical, and structural analysis, as well as strategic documents and statistical data from the 1990s to the present. The study shows that Kuzbass represents an exceptional case in global revitalization practices, where, unlike other resource regions that diversify away from raw material specialization, the region strengthened its focus on coal production. In the 1990s, Kuzbass began laying the foundation for sustainable development, but by the 2000s, a focus on coal exports slowed diversification, leading the region into a “raw materials trap.” As a result, Kuzbass must now restart revitalization efforts and seek new growth drivers through economic diversification. The findings and conclusions presented in this article are relevant to both regional policy-makers in the economic sphere and researchers studying sustainable development in resource-dependent regions.