THE PROBLEM OF TERRITORIAL POPULATION CONCENTRATION AND THE ONE-INDUSTRY TOWNS IN THE NORTHERN REGION (THE REPUBLIC OF SAKHA (YAKUTIA)

The resettlement of the population appears to be a significant factor in the sustainable development of the territory. The imbalances in spatial development that have been forming during a certain period of time concern mostly the imbalances between the center and the periphery, urban and rural settlements. This disproportion draws scientific attention to the processes of population concentration and the prospects for their development. Over the past decades, the main trend in resettlement has been the flow of the population to the center and the negative peripheral dynamics. The deep transformational changes in Russia, which coincided with significant demographic changes, resulted in an increasing dichotomy between the focal point and the province. In the Northern and Arctic regions, this tendency is reflected in a reduction in the number of settlements, both urban and rural. The dilution of the settlement network, together with the deepening of the territorial population concentration, lead to even greater depersonalization on the territory. Rural settlement downturn has been accompanied by certain changes in the character of urban settlements, where a significant proportion belongs to single-industry towns. The instability of the city-forming base poses a threat to the demographic potential of single-industry towns. Northern ingle-industry towns owe their existence to the specifics of regional development that has always been focused on the extraction of strategically important