Sustainable Development of Territories: Successful Practices of Small Russian Cities

The subject of the research is the transformation of the territories of small settlements to improve the quality of life, stimulate economic growth and create a comfortable environment for development. The purpose of the work is to establish tools to create conditions for the sustainable development of small Russian cities. The novelty and significance of the study — the results of this work were reported at the breakout session of the X St. Petersburg International Economic Congress (SPEC‑2025) on April 9, 2025, at which they earned approval. The article notes that against the background of the existing problems of small towns caused by the lack of modern industries, low incomes of the population and the outflow of young people from rural areas, in the last 10–15 years there has been a noticeable trend towards the revival of small territories. Consideration of the successful experience of their renaissance using the example of the city of Kirzhach, the village of Vyatskoye and the city of Totma allowed us to identify a certain algorithm for creating conditions for their sustainable development. It has been established that one of the tools for the revival of small territories can be the use of cultural and historical heritage as an integral part of the creative industries sector, capable of revealing through the multiplier economic effect of tourism, in which the initial economic impulse leads to a greater change in other economic variables due to the spread of intersectoral links through the system, leading to the creation of new jobs in the non-manufacturing sector., development of new projects, attraction of investments, This will ultimately reduce the disparity in the socio-economic development of small territories. It is concluded that the use of cultural and historical heritage tools can generate the development of creative industries, which leads to the formation of favorable conditions for the development of small territories.

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