Аннотация:The article first offers a general overview of the place and role of the Russian Urals as a regionlocated at the at the Eurasian junction. This is one of the leading industrial bases in Russia, relying on naturalresource rent, but with a difficult fate, including steep ups and downs. The significance, former and currentcharacteristics of its old-developed areas are indicated. The study is focuses on the Middle Urals as the keypart of the Ural macroregion, and on Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk oblasts, with their centers analyzed in somemore detail. It is shown that the Urals, like the Center of Russia, has been experiencing polarization of itssocioeconomic space in many ways, including the direction of migration flows. At the same time, against thebackdrop of the polycentrism that has long been characteristic of the Ural macroregion, due to the resourcebaseddevelopment and the historical role of several large centers, the leadership of Yekaterinburg is becomingbetter expressed. It is not only the all-Ural center, but also a contender for an informal position of the thirdRussia’s capital. In most cities the crucial factors are a successful “owning” company or a defense interest ofthe state. Environmental polarization, along with the economic, is typical of the Middle Urals. Its dissectedrelief may protect a place against pollutions generated by their neighbors and keep it clean enough for tourismand recreation.