The development of agglomerations is a key direction of the social and economic development strategy of the Republic of Tatarstan

The current economic situation makes the issue of the urban agglomerations appearance and development crucial. Global experience shows that urban agglomeration is a rational form of territorial use. Through this process the creation of a unified social, economic and investment space takes place. The goal of agglomeration in the 21st century is to establish the basis for the development of large cities as the best form of people settlement. The development of a locality within an urban agglomeration should give it significant advantages. In most cases, the agglomeration process can produce a significant social and economic effect, as well as provide an opportunity to improve the quality and standard of living of the population. In world practice, agglomeration processes have an extensive system of support from the state, and currently there are trends towards the consolidation of individual agglomerations into superagglomerations or megacities. A distinctive feature of agglomeration is the presence of economic interaction between its system-forming elements, characterized by their interconnectedness and features, such as the presence of a large city, which is the center of agglomeration (center of attraction), intensive travel within the agglomeration, as well as industrial and technological cooperation within the agglomeration. In the Republic of Tatarstan the importance of agglomeration development is well understood: the key direction of the implementation of the Strategy of social and economic development of the Republic of Tatarstan up to 2030, approved in 2015, is the development of agglomerations (Kazan, Kama and Almetyevsk). The lack of unified approaches to the management of agglomeration processes is a limiting factor in the integrated development of territories, which leads to an imbalance in plans for housing construction, job supply and provision of transport and social infrastructure facilities. The purpose of this article is to identify these approaches.