Prerequisites for the development of the Vologda agglomeration: results of sociological research

The article presents the key trends in the development of cities and urban agglomerations in Russia at the present stage. The features of agglomeration processes occurring in the Northwestern Federal District and the Vologda Oblast are studied. Based on scientific literature, key strategic documents of federal and regional level and statistical data analysis it is proved that at present the formation in the Vologda Oblast monocentric agglomeration (core: city of Vologda, framework territory: Vologda, Gryazovets, Sokol municipal districts) is taking place. In this regard, the purpose of the article is to study the prerequisites for the formation of the Vologda agglomeration and the features of the ongoing integration processes. It is proved that analysis of conditions and possibilities of formation of the Vologda agglomeration should involve not only the study of official statistics, but also active use of other empirical data. To investigate the nature of ties of the city of Vologda with adjacent municipalities the research team of the Federal State Budgetary Institution of Science “Vologda Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences” conducted sociological surveys of residents of the city of Vologda, Vologda, Sokolsky and Gryazovets municipalities, as well as heads of these municipalities in 2017. The results proved that there are quite stable socio-economic, industrial, cultural and other relations between these territories. At the same time, the key challenges and threats to further development of agglomeration processes are identified, which reflect a significant lag in the level of development of the framework areas from the core. Priority areas of managing the development of the Vologda agglomeration are outlined. These can be used by regional and local authorities to develop and adjust documents of strategic management of municipal development.