Agglomeration scenarios in the planning strategies of the Leningrad region municipalities

The purpose of the study is to measure the level of «agglomeration» of municipal strategies of the Leningrad region, that is, the depth of reflection in the context of the strategy of understanding the significance of inclusion in the composition or being in the zone of influence of the St. Petersburg agglomeration. The study has been conducted on the example of municipal districts and settlements of the Leningrad region. A list of eight «agglomeration strategies» and a method of expert scoring evaluation of the manifestation of each scenario in the strategy text have been developed. A three- component methodology for assessing the degree of «agglomeration» of the strategy has been imple- mented. The results show that the «agglomeration» of the strategy lessen with increasing distance from St. Petersburg. Nevertheless, the strategy of the Kirovsky district, which is part of the agglomeration, received the maximum assessment. This can be explained by the fact that the «agglomeration» of strat- egies also depends on the consultants involved in the development of strategies. Municipal strategies of the Leningrad Region were created with the participation of such organizations as Urbanica, Region- Expo, Higher School of Economics and ENKO. Among the eight identified «agglomeration strategies», «Industrial connectivity», «Demography and mobility» and «Transport connectivity» appeared to be more common and better worked out. The scenarios «Infrastructure and Finance» and «Ecology» are less frequent and manifested worse. «Agglomeration» has a predominantly positive connotation in the strategies of the districts close to St. Petersburg, while the connotation in the strategies of the peripheral districts of the region is mostly negative. When updating municipal strategies of the Leningrad region, it is recommended to increase the degree of integrity of the «agglomeration strategies» consideration; take into account forecasts concerning the dynamics of the St. Petersburg agglomeration boundaries and synchronize the development of strategies at different levels.