The objective of the study is to examine the main forms of industrial and urban development of new regions of Siberia, to identify the main patterns and features of these processes. The main concepts of this process are revealed: creation of industrial production and urbanization of regions; shift method of development of natural deposits in uninhabited territories. The paper provides an analysis of the Soviet experience of industrial development of Siberian regions by forming territorial production complexes and industrial hubs. The forms of attracting the population and staffing the workforce of builders and operators are considered. The dynamics of the population during the implementation of national economic programs is noted. The problem of city-forming enterprises and single-industry towns, their crisis in the context of transition to a market economy is raised. It is indicated that the experience of forming Siberian territorial production complexes, urban development of new territories is of not only national but also international significance. The legislative regulation of the organization of labor by the shift method, the duration of shift work, accounting of working hours, the work and rest regime when working by the shift method are studied. The paper provides the history of the emergence of the shift method in the Soviet period and its development in modern Russia. Statistical data on the number of people working on a shift basis are provided, and its positive and negative aspects are noted. The recognition of the shift method as the main method of industrial development of new regions of Siberia is particularly emphasized. Examples of attempts to recreate the Soviet model of industrial development and urbanization in the Angara-Yenisei region are given, and their practical inconsistency is substantiated. The accumulated historical experience of industrial and urban development of new regions requires close study for the needs of modern practice, in particular the influx of population into the regions of Siberia and the Far East. The increasing population loss from the eastern regions affects not only the slowdown in economic growth, but also the national security of the country. The leading role in solving economic and demographic problems should be played by the state, which must undertake the improvement of the regulatory framework, the attraction of financial and material resources for the comprehensive development of these regions.