Clarifying the categories and economic nature of clusters within an integrated approach to the innovative territorial development

The research focuses on the theoretical foundations and the categories of an integrated approach to regulating the clustering processes and innovative development of the economic systems in the Russian regions. The purpose of the paper is to systematize and clarify the economic nature of innovative clusters as the promising models of spatial development. The study summarizes the key imperatives of the development and implementation of an integrated clustering model in the economic space of the Russian Federation. The research highlights the universal characteristics of cluster formations: the unity of cluster elements; the combination of centripetal and centrifugal forces within the cluster; the uncertain and mobile cluster formation boundaries; the high dynamics of the composition and structure of cluster elements; the individual element base of a cluster. The author concludes that it is possible to consider the cluster as an independent territorial and sectoral form of production management that integrates the industrial, scientific and technical, infrastructure and human capacity of the territorial development of a region into a unified mesoeconomic system.