Особенности социального и экономического развития современных моногородов Республики Башкортостан

Study and monitoring of the current condition of Russian single-industry towns are among the most relevant issues of the state’s socio-economic policy: especially within the implementation of national priority projects and the strategy of the spatial development. The purpose of the article is to define specifics of the socio-economic development of single-industry towns in the Republic of Bashkortostan on the basis of complex analysis of empirical data using sociological set of instruments. To achieve this goal, we conducted the analysis of the current state of social and labor sphere, sociological and statistical indicators of population’s living standards. We also studied demographic processes and trends of the Republic’s single-industry towns. The research of six single-industry towns (Blagoveshchensk, Uchaly, Neftekamsk, Belebey, Beloretsk, Kumertau) allowed us to define features of each territory and to rank them according to the level of the socio-economic welfare. The results differed from characteristics (categories) given in the latest list of Russian single-industry towns provided by the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation. According to updated data, only Neftekamsk could be called a town with the stable socio-economic situation. Blagoveshchensk, Uchaly, Belebey are at the risk of the socio-economic situation worsening. Beloretsk and Kumertau are among towns with the most difficult socio-economic conditions. Towns with high business potential were identified (Belebey, Beloretsk, Blagoveshchensk). However, this potential is usually implemented in the informal sector of the economy, which significantly worsens population’s social well-being. Business potential of other towns (Uchaly, Neftekamsk, Kumertau) is very low. In Uchaly and Kumertau, there are almost no employment alternatives: it defines citizens’ heavy dependence on the town-forming enterprise. At the same time, municipal authorities do not have an opportunity to change the socio-economic situation in towns. Usage of sociological instruments in the course of the research allowed us to reveal internal factors and features of single-industry towns’ development, which are manifested in the population’s life attitudes and social well-being, but they are not reflected by statistical indicators. Developed methodology might be used for complex studies of other Russian single-industry towns and the search for efficient strategy of their modernization.