Review article

The article substantiates that construction industry essentially influences the formation and development of agglomerations, but it can also become a source of load strengthening on them. Although mass building development of the suburbs located in the vicinity of St. Petersburg is economically beneficial for the city, it destroys the developed social structure of the built-up territories. As a result, there have emerged some areas functioning in the mode of pendulum migration. Concurrently, the load of providing the suburbs with infrastructure becomes the responsibility of the “accepting territory” which has no sufficient resources. It is demonstrated that such situation has been caused by the lack of joint development programs of urban and suburban areas, and, first of all, of the urban development plans.