Abstract

The research work is dedicated to a comprehensive analysis of the socio-economic development of Russian cities in 2015-2019 and reflects both the current level of territorial development and the dynamics of key parameters for the period analyzed. Russian cities regularly become the subject of discussion among representatives of government authorities and the scientific community, as one of the key factors of the socio-economic development of the country as a whole. Contemporary urban scientists usually limit their studies of the current state and peculiarities of social and economic development to just a single municipality or small groups of cities. The goal of this study is to determine the main trends in the socio-economic development of Russian cities between 2015 and 2019. To achieve this goal, the following objectives were formulated: setting up a database of key socio-economic indicators of Russian cities (in the period from 2015 to 2019); a systemic review of socio-economic development trends of Russian cities; identification of main problems and resources of socio-economic development of cities; classification of the cities by the current socio-economic development level. The input data for the research work is taken from the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation for Municipalities (Database of Indicators of Municipalities, Rosstat), with data from ministries and departments, open sources, including analytical reports, geoinformation systems data, etc. The following research methods are used: analysis of literature and open sources, statistical analysis, econometric and GIS analysis, qualitative comparative analysis, mapping. The results are as follows: an overview of trends in the socio-economic development of Russian cities in 2010-2020 is developed; approaches and methods for assessing the socio-economic development of Russian cities are studied; a database of indicators of socio-economic development of cities for the period 2015-2019 is set up, and an analysis of the structure and features of the database is carried out; the features of socio-economic development of cities depending on population, geographical location, administrative status are studied; the key problems of socio-economic development of cities at the present stage are considered; the classification of Russian cities by socio-economic development level is proposed; a forecast of socio-economic development trends of Russian cities in the short run is made; the Atlas “Socio-economic development of Russian cities in 2015-2019” is compiled. According to the results, the key trends in the socio-economic development of cities are as follows: the preservation of substantial differentiation in terms of socio-economic development; increasing hyper-centralization of population and resources in metropolitan agglomerations; accelerating depopulation of cities; polarization of the settlement system; reduction of the population incomes and city budgets. The most important problems of socio-economic development of cities at the present stage are as follows: a shortage of demographic and migration resources for quantitative growth; slow post-industrial transformation together with a shortage of investment for the development of large and medium-sized enterprises; low level of budgetary independence and a shortage of budget funds for the implementation of development projects. The Atlas of Cities, compiled by the authors based on the results of the work, provides a detailed illustration of trends and problems, supported by an analysis of 40 key statistical properties of the socio-economic development of Russian cities. The Atlas materials will be useful in guiding competent government decisions regarding urban development. They will be helpful to executive authorities of various levels, local stakeholders, and representatives of the expert and a wide range of experts and analysts.