The main demographic tendencies and problems of socio-economic development of small cities of the Vologda region

The article discusses the main demographic indicators of the Vologda region, which indicate an increase in the processes of urbanization, the concentration of residents of the region in large cities, the outflow of the population from small settlements. Based on the analysis of public reports by the heads of urban settlements of the Vologda Oblast, the most acute problems of small towns in the region are identified. In addition to reducing the population, there are acute problems associated with the insufficient level of development of industrial and agricultural production, the unsatisfactory condition of the housing and utilities and road infrastructure, the high degree of depreciation of the housing stock, and the weak development of consumer services. One of the main causes of these problems is the limited financial resources of the budgets of small cities in the region. As the main methods of research, the methods of comparative analysis, synthesis and synthesis were used in the work. The information base served as indicators of official statistics, reports of state and municipal authorities, as well as scientific works of domestic and foreign researchers on this subject.