RUSSIAN SINGLE-INDUSTRY TOWNS: FORMATION, PRESENT STATE AND PROSPECTS OF DEVELOPMENT
In Russia 10 % of the population lives in 319 single-profile municipalities (single-industry towns). Single-industry town is largely historical, typical phenomenon not only for our country but also for other countries. Part of the single-industry towns has a long history that refers to industrial development of Russia, some have grown in the Soviet time and emerged as part of the territorial and production complexes (sort of clusters), and they were centers of the defense and nuclear industry, the city-science cities. A part of them has retained the status of a single-industry town so far: a few have not been included in the list of single - industry municipalities of the Russian Federation; others have ceased to be single- industry towns, increasing the number of specialization. The development of single-industry towns became the focus of attention in the post-Soviet period, therefore the elaborating and implementation of plans addressing to economical and social concerns of such settlements began. In 2014, the government of the Russian Federation approved the List of monoprofile municipal areas (single-industry towns) of the Russian Federation. Currently, 319 cities are included in this list. There are three categories of single-industry towns: cities with the most difficult socio- economic situation (100), cities with the risk of worsening socio-economic situation (148) and cities with a stable socio-economic situation (71). Cities with a stable socio-economic situation are located mainly in the Central part of European Russia, and we can say that their economic and geographical position contributes to rather stable condition. The main criteria for determining the category of the city are the state of the city-forming organization (industrial facility), the rate of unemployment in the city, the socio-economic situation from the point of population''s view. There are 14 single-industry towns in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. The Murmansk region is one of the Russian old industrial regions; it includes two cities with the most difficult socio-economic situation and five cities with the existing risks of deteriorating socio- economic situation. All of them are the backbone elements of the regional economy, as well as important components of the spatial development of the region.