Improving the system of regional planning: background and imperatives

The relevance of the work is determined by the forming national policy imperatives in Russia, which are pointed out as priorities in the regional planning system in its inseparable unity with the modern challenges of state management. The need of scientific grounding for the ways of solving this problem is conditioned by insufficient effectiveness of this sector at the moment and its modernization requirements. The Research Methods. The article investigates the processes of social and economic development of 83 Russian federal subjects through the systematization and the analysis of provisions on strategic and territorial planning. The author carries out the comparative analysis of the contents of both types of documents relating to the same Russian federal subjects. Using the graphical and analytical methods, the analogue forms of the future state of federal districts, characterised by heterogeneity, the degree of concentration and variants of spatial reproductions of territorial development processes, with their fixation in charted diagrams. The Results. The article determines the significance of spatial component and its impact on changing the principles of regional planning. It proves the existence of new elements of planning the development of regional systems corresponding to the state policy imperatives, secured by special facilities for regional development, approved by planning documents. The author points out three levels of regional systems adaptivity as a new criterion of estimating the social and economic development of territorial entities. The author also substantiates the integration of strategic planning into territorial as the optimal direction of reforming the system of regional planning. The Fields of Results Application. Within the framework of conceptual approach to regional planning the author justifies the application of the method of forming and evaluating the management tools for regional development, gives the description of this method and its forming elements. It is predicted that the suggested prospect directions of improving the methodology of regional planning can achieve complex socially significant results: a breakthrough regional development, accumulating their possibilities and advantages, and the constant improvement of living environment quality, due to the appearance and systematic functioning of new types of economic objects.