ORGANIZATIONAL AND ECONOMIC PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND IMPROVEMENT OF SUBURBAN WALKING TRAILS
He article presents an analysis and systematization of the central organiza- tional and economic principles of design, development and improvement (ar- rangement) of suburban (neighborhood) walking trails, based primarily on international experience due to the very weak development of the suburban trail segment in Russia and almost complete absence of Russian scientific and practical studies in this field. The nearest concept to suburban trails, which received some attention (in terms of aspects) in the Russian scientific literature, is the "eco and local history trail", which is not sufficient from the point of view of the needs of practice. First of all, the work reveals in detail the multidimen- sional specificity of suburban walking trails, including such factors as thematic focus, tourist motivation, combination with suburban passenger rail transport, influence on local residents and other stakeholder groups, including through increases in the value of real estate, safety, importance for health and social well-being, correlation with other objectives of infrastructural development of suburbs. Further, the article highlights the role, significance and international experience in the arrangement and improvement of trails, including both road- engineering aspects and informatization. The next section illustrates interna- tional experience in route integration of suburban walking trails with suburban railway and bus transportation. The article also touches upon the aspects of economic justification and rationale for expanding the segment of suburban walking trails as a public good (primarily as a catalyst and multiplier of tourist activity in the region), as well as certain aspects of differentiated marketing strategies, along with the principles of sustainable development and a remark- able potential for implementing volunteer programs. In conclusion, the author suggests an extensive list of problems and thematic areas for prospective stud- ies of suburban walking routes, emphasizing an extreme need to form a range pf scientific and scientific-practical works in order to conceptually and meth- odologically explore the segment of suburban walking trails in Russia.