The constitutional basis for territorial development

The provisions on state unity and integrity of the Russian territory, equality of its constituent entities, public self-government, unity of economic space, free flows of goods, services and financial resources, agreements between republics, regions, autonomous oblast and autonomous districts are referred to constitutional provisions directly related to territorial development. This topic is presented within the framework of problems of territorial development, which are interpreted as “differences” between the legal standards of federalism and real practices in the regional policy. This kind of discrepancy is particularly noticeable in terms of the powers of “joint management”, which is demonstrated on the example of regulation of property relations, price, fiscal and credit policy. It is emphasized that improving economic federalism relations largely depends on understanding the correlation between the two verticals of power (the state and people) and their three levels (federal, regional, and local). The relative autonomy of government entities should not be an obstacle to spatial integration. Its strengthening is primarily associated with the development of “neighbor relations” between territorial entities, districts and cities, and constituent entities.