Moscow

Moscow operates as Russia's metabolic center—the apex concentration of capital, talent, and decision-making that makes it the country's keystone city. Contributing over 20% of national GDP despite occupying 0.01% of territory, the capital functions as an economic apex predator: it attracts resources from across Russia's eleven time zones and converts them into services, innovation, and governance. Labor productivity runs 2.5 times the national average due to extreme population density and economic concentration.

The scale is staggering. In May 2025, Mayor Sobyanin reported gross regional product at purchasing power parity of $1.39 trillion for 2024—making Moscow the world's second-largest city economy after New York, surpassing Shanghai. Forbes counted 90 billionaires resident in 2025, 16 more than the previous year, placing the city second globally in oligarch density. This concentration reflects path dependence from Soviet central planning: when all decisions flowed through Moscow, all capital accumulated there.

The city anchors Russia's corporate headquarters, federal government, IT sector, and financial services. This creates vulnerability through hypercentralization: disruptions in Moscow ripple across the entire Russian economy. Conversely, Moscow benefits from forced import substitution—as Western firms departed, domestic entrepreneurs and Asian competitors filled gaps, keeping services operating. The construction sector continues transforming the urban landscape despite broader economic pressures. The demographic magnetism persists: ambitious Russians from regions seek Moscow's higher wages and opportunities, reinforcing the talent drain from periphery to center that characterizes apex-predator cities worldwide.