Аннотация:This article discusses the changes typical in the 20th and 21st centuries for cities and rural areas inthe regions surrounding Moscow oblast. Despite the fact that Central Russia makes the impression of a relativelydensely populated area in comparison with the northern and eastern regions, the contrasts of socioeconomicdevelopment here are among the strongest in the country. The processes of concentration of the economyand population are accompanied here by the peripherization and desertification of the old-developedareas. Moscow, on the one hand, makes investment in the surrounding regions, and on the other hand,pumps labor resources, especially young people, from cities and rural areas. This area is characterized bystrong differences in population dynamics, employment, wages, and the state of cities and rural economybetween districts to the north and south of Moscow oblast, between the suburbs of regional centers and theperiphery of the regions, as well as between municipalities adjacent to Moscow oblast and remote from it. Differenteconomic conditions of cities as well as the degree of concentration of agricultural production areshown, taking the latest trends into account. Changes in the forest complex in the Central Russia are consideredseparately.