The article provides critical analysis of the new Strategy of spatial development of the Russian Federation up to 2030 with the forecast up to 2036 in view of evolution of federal relations and provisions of the institutional theory. Topicality of the research is envisaged by the necessity to comprehend the fact whether the present document in the absence of certain strategies of federative relations can perform the coordinating role in stimulating economic selfdevelopment in regions. The goal of the research is to identify systemic contradictions between declared targets of spatial development and real conditions and mechanisms of governing included in strategic documents. Principle conclusions of the research demonstrate a deep paradox of today’s Russian regional policy: in spite of the declared rejection of the idea of equal development and transition to rhetoric of differentiated approach and resource concentration the effective Strategy does not put forward any withdrawal from the model of controlled asymmetry but reproduces centralized vertical logics of governing. The key institutional gap is successive denial of the important role of institutions of in-regional level, i.e. city agglomerations and strong centers of population, which are recognized as objective reality but are not provided with real power and finance authorities. Tools being introduced, such as common lists of strong centers of population and geo-strategic territories, as well as the digital platform of governing are analyzed as mechanisms of increasing administrative priority fixing from above and tools of vertical supervision but not as the basis of decentralization and providing regions with authorities. The author shows increasing non-coordination in the system of strategic planning. As priority lines in restructuring the article proposes adoption of the federal law about regional development securing the real status of institutions on in-regional level; drastic change in inter-budget relations to raise region independence and restore on the federal level the common center of responsibility for coordination of spatial policy. The research contributed to the discussion about the necessity to elaborate complex strategy of federative relations and showed that without such a document and re-distribution of real power and resources any spatial strategy will not be able to resolve key institutional paradoxes.
Modernization of cadastral systems is a continuous process that corresponds to dynamic changes in society and technology. Studying international experience allows us to identify promising areas of development and implementation of innovative solutions in the field of land cadastre. Particular attention is paid to the issues of integrating cadastral systems with other information resources and ensuring the accuracy of geospatial data. This article presents a comparative analysis of the cadastral systems in Ukraine and Switzerland to identify opportunities for improving the Ukrainian land cadastre. The study examines the legal framework, functional purpose, technical characteristics, and financing aspects of both systems. Based on an analysis of Swiss experience, recommendations for modernizing Ukraine’s cadastral system are proposed, including the implementation of decentralized management elements, enhancement of technical infrastructure, and optimization of the financial model. The research highlights the fundamental differences in the cadastral structures of both countries. The Swiss cadastre operates as a decentralized system with significant regional autonomy, ensuring high data accuracy and integration with various geospatial resources. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian cadastral system follows a centralized model, which facilitates uniformity in land registration but faces challenges in data updating and interregional cooperation. The study underscores the importance of implementing 3D cadastres, improving the accessibility of cadastral data, and integrating public-law restrictions into the system, as exemplified by Switzerland. The financial mechanisms supporting the Swiss cadastre are analyzed, emphasizing the advantages of a mixed funding model that combines public financing with elements of self-sufficiency. In contrast, Ukraine relies primarily on state funding, which limits its ability to introduce innovative solutions. The article suggests that adapting Switzerland’s financing approach could improve the efficiency and sustainability of Ukraine’s cadastral system. The study concludes that adopting best practices from Switzerland – such as a more flexible regulatory framework, enhanced geospatial data integration, and diversified financial support – can significantly contribute to the modernization of Ukraine’s land cadastre. Implementing these measures will enhance transparency, facilitate more efficient land management, and improve the overall quality of cadastral services.
This article explores the theoretical and methodological aspects of investment support for the development of cluster formations in the agricultural sector of Ukraine. It is determined that in the context of globalization and increasing competition, adequate investment support is a key factor in improving the farm sector’s competitiveness and ensuring the sustainable development of rural areas. The article examines the current state of development of cluster initiatives in the agricultural sector of Ukraine and identifies the main problems and prospects for their development. The experience of the European Union countries in stimulating cluster formations in farm production and their impact on the diversification of the economy of mono-specialized regions is studied. Based on the analysis of data from the European Cluster Collaboration Platform, the index of maturity of Ukraine’s cluster policy is assessed, and the key factors influencing its development are determined. It is substantiated that the primary sources of financing cluster formations in the agricultural sector include budget financing, bank lending, private investment, financial resources of cluster participants, international technical assistance, and alternative sources, such as crowdfunding and the issuance of securities. It is revealed that the key problem is the lack of a specialized, targeted strategy for the development of cluster policy, which leads to a fragmented approach to the development of cluster formations, as well as insufficient policy coherence and the lack of effective monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. However, financial decentralization and international support through the Ukraine Facility instrument have opened new opportunities for attracting investment in the agricultural sector. It is studied that the use of a project approach to financing and the active involvement of small and medium-sized enterprises in international cooperation and innovation projects can contribute to creating an effective cluster policy. Considering the experience of EU countries and using the available support tools, Ukraine has the potential to stimulate investment and ensure the sustainable development of agricultural clusters. Keywords: agricultural sector, cluster formations, integrated structures, investment support, state support, financing, competitiveness, sustainable development, innovation, Ukraine Facility, financial decentralization, small and medium-sized businesses.
The article examines the transformation processes of the formation and use of the budget funds of the territorial community of Kharkiv, which are due to the peculiarities of changes in the budget and tax legislation. An analysis of the implementation of planned indicators regarding the main sources of filling the revenue part of the budget of the Kharkiv urban territorial community was carried out. Priority areas of budget allocations were identified, determined by the specifics of financial management under martial law, with an emphasis on ensuring the stable functioning of critically important elements of the city infrastructure. It was found that the strategic task of the decentralization process is not only to expand the competence of local government bodies in the field of decision-making regarding financial and budgetary autonomy, but also to form an effective system of managing the revenue receipts of the territorial community budget in order to ensure its sustainable socio-economic development and the most effective use of accumulated financial resources with a clear socio-economic effect in accordance with the identified priorities. It was noted that the implementation of public finance reform in the context of decentralization is part of a more complex and general problem, which consists in ensuring the conditions for more responsible and effective implementation of their powers by local authorities within the financial resources of their budgets. A detailed analysis of the features of the budget process and an assessment of their impact on the implementation of the budget of the territorial community allowed: to identify problematic issues related to the implementation of revenue replenishment indicators, budgeting of measures of city target programs; to identify internal reserves for replenishing financial resources and attract additional inter-budgetary transfers; to ensure the effectiveness of budget funds management in the established regime of their resource availability and expenditure priority. Within the framework of the local finance reform implemented within the framework of the decentralization process, along with the growth of tax revenues to the budget of the territorial community, two key mechanisms for financial support of the united territorial communities at the expense of state resources were introduced. In particular, we are talking about financing through the State Fund for Regional Development, as well as the provision of a subvention from the state budget to local budgets aimed at implementing measures to develop and modernize the infrastructure of these communities.
The scientific hypothesis of the article assumes that inequality in access to digital infrastructure, inequality in digital skills and digital literacy, inequality in the use of digital technologies are new forms of social stratification and forms of manifestation of various digital divides. We argue that digital inequality objectively acquires new forms of manifestation. Digital and spatial inequality coexist in at least two forms of manifestation – digital periphery and digital gentrification. Digital periphery is the result of the formation of territories with limited access to digital infrastructure, which in the context of digitalization of economic processes inevitably leads to economic marginalization. An analysis of the literature has shown that digital gentrification is considered as a consequence of the increase in the cost of housing in areas with developed digital infrastructure due to the internal migration of digital workers. We believe that this approach to defining digital gentrification requires further study, because in the era of digitalization, digital technologies not only change the physical space of cities, but also create new forms of spaces – digital environments, digital platforms, digital communities. This allows us to develop the concept of "digital gentrification" as a phenomenon that describes the processes of displacement, exclusion and transformation in digital space. The purpose of the study is to determine the essence of digital gentrification and its typology, which will allow us to characterize the positive and negative consequences of gentrification processes for inequality from the perspective of socio-spatial transformation. We define the digital environment as the communication environment of digital devices and the environment of digital inequality. By considering the digital environment as the basis of a complex network of digital interactions, we can better understand the differences that arise in access to technologies, their use, and technology-related skills. In the context of spatial inequality, the household is a key entity, since its socio-economic situation directly depends on spatial opportunities: access to infrastructure, jobs, social services, environmental conditions, etc. The spatial localization of the household determines its inclusion in socio-economic processes and opportunities for development. In the context of digitalization, the concept of "household" is significantly modified. Under the conditions of digital transformation, traditional households are being modified into “digital communities” (groups of individuals united by common interests or goals in the digital space, who carry out economic activities) or “virtual collectives” (temporary associations of individuals for the implementation of short-term projects such as crowdsourcing initiatives) or into decentralized autonomous organizations (forms of collective economic activity based on blockchain technologies and smart contracts). Hybrid households are being formed – distributed households. We propose to consider digital gentrification as a process of transformation of digital interaction spaces and digital platforms, which is characterized by a change in the nature and intermediary functions of the digital environment, accompanied by a revaluation of digital assets in the interests of new user groups or data-driven companies, marginalization or displacement of initial users, forced simplification of digital specialization due to the development of ICT, which allowed us to distinguish platform gentrification, spatial digital gentrification, infrastructure digital gentrification, algorithmic gentrification, cultural digital gentrification, informational gentrification, economic digital gentrification, professional digital gentrification, virtual-spatial gentrification.
Надежда Константиновна Демина, IRINA V. MAKSAKOVA, Vera Mishina, MARINA V. SUBCHEVA
At the modern post-industrial stage of economic development, the transformation of social systems in developed countries is carried out in the direction of individualization of the educational trajectory of each person. In the presented study, significant attention is paid to ensuring of getting education by children with special needs, the percentage of such children tends to increase throughout the world. One of the difficulties in organizing work with special children is collecting information on the characteristics of the required educational environment, according to W. Oates’s decentralization theory, the provision and financing of public goods should be carried out at the level of the budget system that is closest to the consumer, while minimizing territorial differentiation in the availability of services. The purpose of the article is to systematize existing approaches to organizing the financing of the system of obtaining education for children with special educational needs. The conducted analysis of the current regulatory framework from the point of view of the implementation of the practice of financial equalization in the system of budgetary federalism allowed the research to determine the feasibility of centralizing psychological and pedagogical assistance for children with disabilities at the regional level. The analysis of the practice of implementing the reform of budgetary institutions in the framework of the transition to financing of the state and municipal assignment allowed the research to identify the discrepancy between the planned indicators and the actual volume of services; centralization at the regional level can help to redistribute services between territorial divisions. Using the example of the data analysis from the work of the institutions of psychological and medical pedagogical commissions (PMPC) of the city of Chelyabinsk, disproportions in funding sources and the volumes of the municipal assignment were revealed. As a result of the study, proposals are presented for the centralization of services provided by organizations of psychological and pedagogical, medical and social assistance. The transfer of funding for these services to the regional level can help to take into account the specific needs of children with disabilities and reduce the degree of territorial differentiation in the availability of educational services.
В статье рассматриваются понятие криптовалюты, участники международного рынка криптовалют, особенности и эффективность использования криптовалют в международных расчетах. Отмечается, что трансформация мировой валютно-финансовой системы и цифровизация финансовой сферы обусловливают формирование инновационных инструментов, механизмов, методов и технологий. Формирование и развитие цифровых финансовых активов, международного рынка криптоактивов, создание инфраструктуры международного движения цифровых финансовых активов формируют новый формат международных расчетов. In the presented article, the author examines the concept of cryptocurrencies, participants in the international cryptocurrency market, features and effectiveness of using cryptocurrencies in international settlements. The author notes that the transformation of the global monetary and financial system and the digitalization of the financial sector determine the formation of innovative tools, mechanisms, methods and technologies. The formation and development of digital financial assets, the international crypto asset market, and the creation of an infrastructure for the international movement of digital financial assets form a new format for international settlements.
Implementation of regional problems of socio-economic development of territories depends on the efficiency of local authorities. An important factor in the implementation of these programs is the sufficiency of their own financial resources at their disposal. This problem had to be overcome by the reform of budget decentralization, according to which each local authority should provide a decent level of primary and basic public services for the population. Russian military aggression added even more problems to local communities: causing mass migration and stopping business, the need to solve humanitarian, communal, migration problems, and rebuild destroyed housing. In 2015–2022, the structure of local budget revenues changed: the share of transfers in revenues and the share of subventions in the total amount of transfers decreased. This was influenced by the following factors: changes in the payment of a single tax, personal income tax deductions to local budgets, cancellation of medical and some social subsidies, cancellation of transfer of reverse subsidy. Factors that influenced the structure of the revenue base of local budgets also affected their spending part. The change in the composition of interbudgetary transfers is directly related to the reduction of spending powers of local authorities and the change in the mechanism of financing budget programs in the field of education, health care, social protection and social security. However, the decrease in the share of local budget expenditures on the social sphere occurred at a slower pace than the decrease in the amount of subventions to local budgets for these purposes. This indicates the growing role of local budgets in financing programs of local importance and is a positive result of the budget decentralization reform. The full-scale war of 2022 showed how financially stable local authorities are and whether they are able to withstand any changes in the financing of their powers with dignity. After all, the local government, in addition to continuing to provide public services at a high level, has taken on additional responsibilities: ensuring territorial defense activities, assisting the Armed Forces, supporting relocated businesses, assisting internally displaced persons, preparing shelters, etc. Of course, such opportunities were influenced by the reform of budget decentralization, which enabled local authorities to obtain their own sources of financial resources, which played a key role in facing challenges.
The article presents the experience of coordinated work of public organizations, state authorities and local self-governments on strengthening harmonized interethnic interaction in the region with a multi-ethnic population. It is noted that the intercultural communication in the Jewish Autonomous Region is presented in the context of preserving national security. Making favourable intercultural interactions is based, first of all, on personal changes when matching another ethnic culture is achieved. The practical significance of the research is caused by the growing interest in studying social and ethnocultural aspects of migrants’ adaptation for the activities of educational institutions, national-cultural autonomies and various state civil social institutions to introduce necessary adjustments, in particular, in the behavioural stereotypes of migrants. That is what seems to be a vital purpose. The importance of involving professionals from state authorities, holding regular ethnocultural events to maintain a harmonized image of the region within the inter-ethnic communication is focused. At present, interethnic and intercultural processes developing within the modernization of the public sphere and significant decentralization of the state mechanism are marked by significant regional characteristics. In particular, regional authorities are the main participants of ethnocultural policy. All this determines the relevance of studying theoretical and practical problems of harmonization of interethnic relations both at the macro-sociological level and at the level of regional multi-ethnic communities.
Abstract Equilibrium of centralization and decentralization is one of the sustainable development drivers for regions in federal countries. The constitutional reform 2020 in Russia was an important political development relevant both for Russia and international discussion. Constitutional amendments made an important contribution to the center-region relations promising to understand better the needs of regions by means of State Council and introducing new actors - federal territories, initially meant for better ecological protection of certain territories. The study allows to conclude that the representation of regions in legislative power is diminished after the reform 2020, but the upgraded State Council opens new opportunities for better center-region communications. Another finding is that the new constitutional phenomenon “federal territories” is unclear and not aimed for ecological needs. It is likely to cause unjustified inequalities in redistributions of finance and revenues between the territories in Russia. Spontaneous creation of federal territories is likely to cause uncertainties in the sustainable development of regions.
Существующие социально-экономические проблемы села обусловливают необходимость изменения государственных программ сельского развития и корректировки концептуальной модели финансово-экономического обеспечения устойчивого развития сельских территорий на принципах инклюзивного роста. В ходе исследования было установлено, что существующая модель финансово-экономического обеспечения сельского развития имеет целый ряд недостатков, обусловленных недостаточностью бюджетного финансирования, слабой диверсификацией сельской экономики и ограниченностью доступа сельского населения и малого бизнеса к финансовым ресурсам, что препятствует выполнению своих функций органами местного самоуправления и подрывает основу финансовой самообеспеченности села. Предлагаемая концептуальная модель финансово-экономического обеспечения устойчивого инклюзивного развития сельских территорий построена на принципах бюджетной децентрализации, финансовой самостоятельности местного самоуправления, обеспечения финансовой инклюзии и гражданского участия в управлении финансовыми ресурсами. Разработанные меры финансово-экономического обеспечения сельского развития направлены на интегрированное решение комплексных проблем, повышение значения местного самоуправления и роли гражданского участия в управлении финансовыми ресурсами бюджетов сельских поселений, а также на развитие сельской экономики. The existing socio-economic problems of the village determine the necessity to change the state programs of rural development and adjust the conceptual model of financial and economic support of sustainable development of rural areas on the principles of inclusive growth. The study found that the existing model of financial and economic support of rural development has a number of drawbacks due to insufficient budget financing, poor diversification of the rural economy and limited access of the rural population and small businesses to financial resources, which prevents local governments from fulfilling their functions and undermines the basis of financial self-sufficiency of the village. The proposed conceptual model of financial and economic provision of sustainable inclusive development of rural areas is based on the principles of budgetary decentralization, financial autonomy of local government, ensuring financial inclusion and civil participation in the management of financial resources. The developed measures of financial and economic provision of rural development are aimed at the integrated solution of complex problems, increasing the importance of local selfgovernment and the role of civil participation in the management of financial resources of budgets of rural settlements, as well as contributing to the development of rural economy.
Open access
Digitalization and Economic Development in Agriculture
The article is dedicated to the analysis of the modern vision of European capitals, presented as an interdisciplinary phenomenon in a number of recent works by Russian and foreign authors. The attention is focused both on external (architecture, complexes of cultural initiatives of different levels) and on the essential parameters of the functioning of capitals (technology, innovation, finance, science, ecology). The purpose of the publication is to identify new trends that characterize the development of European capitals in the information age. It is highlighted that the modern European capital is a city that produces numerous forms of dialogue of its residents, including in the context of the «tradition-modernity» interaction. The classical sociocultural vision of the city is supplemented by the idea of the city as a stable intellectual system. In the reviewed works, the author finds confirmation of her thesis that in the near future the existing polycentricity of European capitals will not only deepen, but also expand due to the functions of peripheral cities in accordance with such classical postulates of postindustrialism as decentralization, deurbanization and demassification.
The article is devoted to autonomous civil law regulation of religious organizations. The features of the analyzed regulation are described. The article emphasizes the ambiguity of the current autonomy in self-regulation of religious organizations. The necessity of limiting the degree of autonomy of religious organizations in decentralized rule-making is substantiated.
Purpose. The work is devoted to the study of the problem of the formation of a resource base for financial support of enterprises of communal ownership in the context of decentralization and the development of directions for attracting investments, and ways of transforming them into an effective tool for social and economic development. Methodology. To solve this scientific problem, the following methods were used: retrospective; structural; comparative analysis of empirical data; graphical and analytical; abstract logical generalization. Results. The paper investigates and analyzes the problems and factors of the formation of the resource base of the financial support of domestic utilities of the underground. Scientific novelty. In the process of analyzing the formation of a resource base for financial support of the activities of municipal metro enterprises, it is proposed to introduce new financing mechanisms, which will improve the efficiency of their functioning, the provision of high-quality public services and the effective use of budget funds. Practical significance. Certain results and conclusions of the article can be used by local authorities and local governments to implement the directions of attracting financial and ways of transforming them into an effective tool for the socio-economic development of metro enterprises.
The article carries out a critical analysis of the scientific definitions of the fiscal space as an economic category. The approaches to interpretation of the concept of «fiscal space» are systematized; the resource-expenditure, targeted, quantitative and effective approaches are allocated. The essence, advantages and disadvantages of each of these approaches are substantiated. The necessity and relevance of transferring the concept of «fiscal space» to the local level is proved, which is connected with the reform of inter-budgetary relations, financial decentralization, formation of united territorial communities, and necessity for ensuring their ability to function. The author’s own definition of the fiscal space of territorial community is proposed as a totality of economic processes and financial interactions of the community’s economic entities, localized within its limits, which are the result of an active fiscal policy to increase the tax potential of the territory and strengthen the target orientation of the local budget expenditures aimed at improving the life of the territorial community and its level of financial viability. The main features of the fiscal space of territorial community and the properties of fiscal space as an economic system are allocated. It is defined that the fiscal space is formed by three elements of public finance: budget revenues, expenses, and debt. It is argued that the fiscal space of the territorial community is feasibly to consider as a combination of the tax potential and the potential for costs reduction without compromising the public interest in order to strengthen their target orientation.
The article establishes that sustainable territorial development is impossible without the partnership of public authorities and business. It is noted that Public Private Partnership (PPP) is an institutional and organizational alliance between authorities and business for the purpose of realization of socially significant projects in various spheres of activity. It is revealed that this transfer of business is part of the powers, responsibilities and risks associated with the implementation of investment projects that have traditionally been implemented through budget financing. The attention was paid to the forms of public private partnership. The current state of realization of local public private partnership projects is analysed, actual problems have been identified and directions of financing of development of territories have been clarified. It is proved that the partnership between the authorities and the private sector is aimed at increasing the efficiency of the implementation of infrastructure projects at the local level, solving important issues of local importance and meeting the needs and interests of the territorial community in obtaining quality services. There are listed spheres and sectors of application public private partnership. There are mentioned advantages of the use of public private partnership. The statistical data and the dynamics of realization of projects implemented on the basis of public private partnership are presented. An example of the use of public private partnership, as an instrument for the development of territories, is presented. Attention is paid to the institutional environment of the implementation of public private partnership projects. The expediency of harmonization of concession legislation with the legislation on public private partnership and implementation of best international experience in legal regulation in Ukraine is substantiated. The necessity of development of public private partnership as an instrument of development of territories in the conditions of realization of the decentralization of power relations reform is pointed out.
Maxim Eugenyevich Demenkov, Ekaterina A. Demenkova, Svetlana Andreevna Shishmanova
The article highlights the approach to processing landed property data based on Blockchain technology and Ethereum platform, which allows the transparent, decentralized and highly reliable system for network users with restricted access to personal data. A review of the platforms for creating decentralized online services has been performed; their advantages and disadvantages considered. The inventory of the fields required for work with the landed property. There have been selected tools for working with Ethereum platform: browser Mist and the high-level language Solidity. To facilitate working with the inventory there were created a site with a map based on SharePoint platform and integrated using API Yandex.map. Peculiarity of the system under consideration is the need for trust between the participants who add data to the inventory. It has been proposed to use either a system based on a credible exchange of certificates, as they provide the high level of personal data security and have a service life, i.e. they are active only for one session, or a system of criteria for calculating the combined trust and assigning it to another person. Emphasis is made on the need to take into account the context of collaboration and shared services in trust management. The use of Blockchain technology for solving a practical task, namely, processing and storing spatial data on landed property, is an efficient way to store data, which will ensure the data relevance and reliability, as well as reduce their loss
The real estate market is influenced by the global growth trends, such as the growth of the transaction costs and new technologies of the fourth industrial revolution. The types of the transaction costs of the real estate market are analyzed in the paper. The characteristics of the blockchain as a new information technology that allows reducing transaction costs are considered. The essence of the blockchain as a value-communication technology that allows transferring not only information, but also value using mobile networks and the Internet, is substantiated. The types and classification of the blockchains are considered. The directions of real estate transformation on the basis of introduction of the blockchain technologies are shown. Some unresolved issues, as well as the dangers and challenges of the development of the blockchain technologies, are indicated in this article.
Eurasian cities, unique in the global \n spatial landscape, were part of the world's largest \n experiment in urban development. The challenges they now \n face because of their history offer valuable lessons to \n urban planners and policy makers across the world from \n places that are still urbanizing to those already urbanized. \n More than three-quarters of the built environment in \n Eurasian cities was developed after 1945 in a centralized \n fashion. Central planners could implement whatever they \n considered good practice planning solutions, and \n Eurasia's cities became their drawing boards. The \n central planners got a lot right easy access to public \n transportation, district heating networks, almost universal \n access to water systems, and socially integrated \n neighborhoods. At the same time, they failed to acknowledge \n the importance of markets and individual choice in shaping \n sustainable and congenial places for people to live in. From \n a spatial point of view, it became clear that many Eurasian \n cities were developed in places where they should not have \n been. To populate sparsely inhabited territory, Soviet \n planners pushed urban development toward the heart of \n Siberia. Many of the resulting cities had no rural \n hinterland to rely on for daily food needs and had to depend \n on subsidized goods and services. Many Eurasian cities face \n an overdeveloped public service infrastructure that is hard \n to maintain and upgrade. Facing an economic downturn in the \n 1990s and lacking experience in decentralized urban \n management, many local authorities struggled to run these \n services. Public transport ridership fell in most cities, \n with more people commuting in private vehicles. Recycling \n networks disappeared, and soaring consumption overwhelmed \n solid waste management systems. District heating systems \n became large energy sieves hard to run and maintain without \n subsidies. Plaguing water systems are large shares of \n nonrevenue water, and low tariffs do not ensure the cost \n recovery needed for upgrades and repairs. This book \n discusses all five of these issues rethinking, planning, \n connecting, greening, and financing in more detail. It seeks \n to analyze the key challenges created by central planning, \n outline how these challenges were addressed in the \n transition years, and identify some steps Eurasian cities \n should take to chart a sustainable development path for \n themselves. The book also shows how some of the most \n progressive cities in the region have been tackling these \n problems and, in doing so, shedding the last vestiges of the \n socialist economy.
Cătălina Liliana Andrei, BOGDAN OANCEA, TUDOREL ANDREI
Reforming the public health system is a complex and long process, involving different categories of people. To accelerate the process of integration into the European Union, Romania is currently implementing strategies and programs aimed to increase the quality of public services. In the medical field a series of measures have been undertaken aimed at accelerating the decentralization process and optimize the activities of medical institutions. During the transition period a series of measures have been taken to decentralization and privatization of health services. However, currently we are witnessing a fragmentation of the system, which stressed the inequality in the distribution of medical personnel and reduced people's access to certain types of medical services. Please note that the number of doctors per capita in rural areas is only 20% of the urban area. Another major shortcoming of the system is linked to the financing system and its correlation with the strategies of decentralization. Frequently, decentralization has emerged as a way of placing the central tasks in the task of local government. Using panel data from developing regions we highlight a number of implications of the decentralization process.
This report describes the process of shrinkage as it has occurred within the city of Leipzig. It examines the reasons, dynamics and patterns of change as well as the consequences for different fields of urban development and planning. The period covered in the report runs from the 1980s to the present day; in particular cases, longer or shorter time periods are considered. Over this time, Leipzig has moved from a (more or less rapidly) shrinking city until the late 1990s to a point where ist population stabilized and even returned to a slight growth during the last few years. Today, Leipzig is no longer a shrinking city. When one looks only at the total population numbers, Leipzig represents one of a few large cities in eastern Germany that have undergone reurbanization processes (Haase, A. et al. 2010). However, urban shrinkage continues to be an important topic for the city. The city is still facing the consequences of long-term shrinkage and will have to cope with it during the years to come. At the same time, shrinkage still affects some parts of the city and will also do so in the future. Moreover, Leipzig awaits a new wave of shrinkage due to ageing and a decrease in households after 2015.