2026 Issue №2

The 19th century in Europe in general, and in Prussia in particular, marked a period of the formation of a legislative framework for urban planning at both the state and local levels, as a precursor to modern spatial planning. From the initial selective regulation of urban development (fire-prevention measures, etc.), by the beginning of the 20th century a system of regulatory frameworks for managing urban development had been established. At the same time, there is no clear understanding of which processes and regulations influenced, albeit only partially due to the events of the Second World War, the formation of the present-day urban landscape of Kaliningrad. The factors influencing urban development are examined, and urban growth is assessed from the perspective of urban planning (maximum development parameters, functional zoning, etc.), including the building regulations in force and the relevant concepts applied. The balance between the public interest represented by the municipality and the private interest represented by developers is analyzed.

The purpose of the study is the experimental development of a score-index methodology for assessing iron ore and aluminum raw material deposits as components of mineral resources, as well as its testing in the territories comprising the Northern Economic Region of Russia. The study draws upon extensive statistical and factual material contained in regulatory and legal documents, as well as in scholarly sources. The main characteristics of mineral resources are presented as of 2022. It is shown that the score-index assessment methodology is aimed at analyzing a resource as a system of components expressed through various properties of natural bodies. With regard to deposits of iron ore, bauxites, and the nepheline component of complex apatite-nepheline ores, a staged assignment of scores and indices reflecting the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of resources according to special scales is substantiated. The scores obtained in this way are successively summed, and, on the basis of the resulting final value, the efficiency and prospects for the further development of the deposits are determined. It has been established that the most profitable deposits are represented by nepheline ores in the Murmansk Region and bauxites in the Komi Republic, while iron ores located in the Republic of Karelia and the Murmansk Region demonstrate medium profitability. Using the author’s methodology, which takes into account the most important characteristics of mineral resources and the economic-geographical factors affecting the development of the mining industry, the mineral resource potential of the regions was calculated: the Murmansk Region and the Komi Republic possess the highest potential, whereas the Republic of Karelia and the Arkhangelsk Region demonstrate lower values. The obtained results may be used in strategic spatial planning and in managing the regional development of the resource-based economy of the Northern Economic Region of Russia.

The study is aimed at examining small towns in the Non-Chernozem zone of Russia, with particular attention focused on the town of Borovichi in the Novgorod Region, whose socio-economic development dynamics largely resemble those of other similar towns (depopulation, reduction of human capital, contraction of the labor market, etc.). The paper presents a multi-scale analysis of the socio-economic development problems of small towns in the Non-Chernozem zone. The history of the formation and evolution of the functional development of Borovichi is analyzed in order to identify the predetermined nature of contemporary trends in spatial development. To determine the role of entrepreneurship in revitalizing the town, an assessment of the current state and development prospects of business was carried out in both sectoral and territorial dimensions. Based on official statistical data and expert interviews conducted by the author in February 2025, qualitative and quantitative characteristics of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Borovichi are presented. Drawing on field observations and the analysis of project documentation, the main areas and actors of environmental revitalization are identified, and cases of socio-economic revitalization under the auspices of business are examined. It has been established that SMEs differing in sectoral affiliation and scale exert different influences on the processes of urban space revitalization, while the effectiveness of entrepreneurial activity is largely determined by the combination of formal and informal institutional conditions ensuring the development of business as a driver of positive urban transformations.