Theoretical approaches to the classification of small and medium-sized cities of Russia

The main indicators of the dynamics of the population of Russia indicate active processes of urbanization, which is characterized by the concentration of the country’s inhabitants in large cities and the outflow of population from small and medium-sized cities. The relevance of studying the problems of small and medium-sized cities is that they, in fact, are a link between rural areas and large cities, and as a consequence they play a key role in the integration of urban and rural environments. The article outlines the main problems of social and economic development of small and medium-sized ones. It focuses on the fact that when there is a large number and variety of city types, each of them has its own problems, which must be considered when choosing the most effective methods and tools to manage their development. The approaches of modern authors to the classification of small and medium cities are considered. It is revealed that in the scientific literature a quantitative approach to the classification by the population of a city is present in almost every job, however, other indicators are taken into account, such as city functions, the position of relatively large agglomerations, the characteristics of the socio-economic situation, the type of municipality to which city.