Policy of Small Town Development: Lessons of Overseas Experience for Russia

Abstract

   The article studies the world experience in pursuing state policy of space development in remote territories and small towns in Germany, Japan, Poland, Slovenia, Check Republic and Italy. The article describes experience of these countries in developing territories characterized by depopulation, reducing real sector of economy and jobs, declining standard of living, rising costs of social infrastructure. It also analyzes dynamic of priorities in policy of territorial development depending on predominant academic concepts: from policy of leveling-up, developing endogenous factors of territories (policy established in the spot) to policy beyond growth limits. Negative experience of developing Check municipalities was shown and results of certain stages of policy in countries that could not reach the set goals were highlighted. On the basis of the analysis some common approaches were found, as well as tools, which proved their effectiveness in testing this experience for small towns in Russia. By analyzing practices of six overseas countries the author came to the conclusion that small towns often experience after-effects of urbanization, such as population outflow, its aging and economic stagnation. The most important conditions of pursuing state policy on such territories are as follows: search for finance sources for their support, maintenance of infrastructure and improvement of quality of state service rendering and creation of sources of endogenous development. Today we can observe the development of such concepts as ‘The Slow Town’ (Italy), ‘Life beyond Growth’ (Japan) that aim at shaping living conditions for people focusing on benefits of remote territories. At the same time trends of developing small towns advance specific requirements to implementing state branch policies, in particular, in the field of education, public health service, to new formats of rendering basic services, including remote territories in conditions of their low budget support.