Spatial analysis and optimization of the urban structure in small towns. The case study of Gornozavodsk, Russia
The difficult demographic and economic conditions of the last decades make "smart decline" the optimal strategy for the development of small single-industry towns in Russia. This strategy involves a shift in emphasis from urban growth to retaining the existing population and improving its quality of life, which is achieved, among other things, by revitalizing the degrading urban environment. The article discusses measures to optimize the planning structure and improve the quality of the urban environment in small towns for their empirical testing in one of the small towns of Perm Krai - Gornozavodsk. The potential effects of the proposed transformations of the urban structure are assessed via modern methods of spatial analysis -spatial syntax and isochron map. These open data tools can be also applied to other small town development projects, both for optimal placement of pedestrian links within the designed public space itself, and for assessing the consequences of the proposed solutions for the entire urban structure of the city.