Expanding methodological approaches to assessing the quality of socio-economic development strategies for large cities

Introduction to the issues

Today, the “growth poles” of the Russian economy are the largest cities. However, according to some authors, large cities can also become such poles, as they concentrate significant economic, management and intellectual potential (Douay, 2008). They are characterized by deep markets, well-developed infrastructure, and qualified personnel (Yamshchikov et al., 2017; L’vov et al., 2005; Nikonova et al., 2008). A composite indicator of such concentration can be the ability of cities to generate innovation and revenues for budgets at all levels (Bogomolova, 2016; Ignatyevskiy, Sovetova, 2020).

Today, large cities with significant economic potential do not take full advantage of the development opportunities that have arisen in recent years, including due to the weak design of their strategies (Schlingmann, Nordstrom, 2015; Jacobs, 1961). This is confirmed by the experts of the Center for Strategic Research, who point to the following reasons for the low efficiency of strategic documents in terms of their development: insufficient elaboration of strategies, vagueness of authority and responsibility, declarativity of documents and others.

The main goal of successful socio-economic development of any city is to make the city a comfortable “home” for its residents, a promising platform for business development, a favorable and interesting place for tourists. The basic idea is simple – in a city where it is good, comfortable, cozy, safe, quiet and interesting, people are happy. One appreciates and loves such a city, is proud of it, cares about it, and strives to ensure its prosperity.

One doesn’t want to leave such a city; one wants to live there, create a family, and have children. And this requires comfortable parks and embankments, modern kindergartens, schools, and sports facilities; landscaped yards, streets and sidewalks; reliable heat, gas, water and electricity supply systems; quality garbage and snow removal; convenient and safe public transportation; developed communication systems and many other subsystems, without which it is impossible to live comfortably in a modern city. A consequence of the positive changes in a city, an indicator that life there is becoming better and more comfortable, that it is developing in the right direction, is just the growth of population. It takes common goals, ideas, a common attractive future, and involvement in a big construction project. The quality of life in one city can be strikingly different. This is the root of animosity and contradictions, so it is necessary to strive to ensure equal accessibility of urban services.

Urban life is distinguished by the level of freedom, that is, the life scenarios that a person can implement (Jacobs, 1970; Jacobs, 1984). The main resource of the city is human capital – a set of competencies of people to meet the needs of the city. Traditionally, cities compete for people and resources. However, the concept of social corporatism1 (Shulepov, 2014; Shulepov et al., 2020a) suggests complementing competition with diverse cooperation between cities, people and companies, and the introduction and dissemination of best practices.