Creating a comfortable urban environment: problems of interaction between society and government in the implementation of priority projects at the management municipal level

The federal program on the formation of comfortable urban environment was initiated in Russia in 2017. Its aim is to improve local and public territories. The program implies the active involvement of citizens, which is taken into account in the Urban Environment Quality Index. On the basis of an empirical study, conducted using mass survey and expert interview methods in the towns of the Arkhangelsk Oblast, the authors analyze a degree of civic participation of residents in the implementation of projects to create a comfortable urban environment and assess the efficiency of existing mechanisms of interaction between society and government. We assume the theoretical provision that a social activity is the citizens’ work to transform the environment, carried out under the influence of external and internal factors. External factors include activities of municipal authorities to inform town residents about the program for creating a comfortable urban environment and to involve them in the implementation of projects. Internal factors are citizens’ personal interest and their meaningful participation in the program. The results of the sociological survey indicate a high potential for citizens’ social activity, which is a necessary condition for effective interaction between government and society and a successful implementation of the program. However, practical participation of urban residents remains weak. The main reasons are the lack of citizens’ awareness about the implemented program, the lack of clear ways of interaction between government and society, as well as an understanding of the program’s fundamental principles, which, in turn, leads to passivity and distrust toward the authorities. The authors conclude that, in order to increase civic engagement, we need a system of measures, which would allow adjusting the existing communication means between government and society and increasing the effectiveness of the program on the formation of a comfortable urban environment.