Small cities in the spatial regulation system of the Russian economy

During the activities of the XVIth forum for strategic planning on October, 23-24, 2017 in St. Petersburg was reaffirmed the urgent need to progress promptly with the completion and official adoption of the Strategy of spatial development of the Russian Federation. The Strategy is expected to provide clearer structuring of the priorities of the state policy in the sphere of spatial regulation; clear structuring of the activities of various development institutions, both of federal and regional level; coordination of investment, fiscal, and socio-demographic tools for the development of regions. However, along with the problems of the macro-economic level, the Strategy has the task to focus on some more specific problems, which, however, are essential for the sustainable development of the country in the long term perspective and therefore require a clear position of the government regarding the solutions to these problems. One of these problems is the question about the future of small towns of Russia, which also has found a “niche” for the discussion during the Forum. This subject of this discussion was not only a dramatic situation in many small towns of the country, but mainly the measures, which should be taken to remedy this situation, including the usage of the opportunities, offered with the transition to the system of strategic planning.