Methodological approaches to the elaboration of complex indexes of the socioeconomic development of cities

The article provides a detailed overview of methods applied for compiling complex city indexes of socio-economic development (both international and Russian). Specific methodological features of indexes computation and selection of indicators and categories (subindexes) are analyzed basing on 12 international and 8 Russian city indexes. All of them are divided into three types: 1) sustainable development indexes, 2) indexes assessing the position of cities in the global systems, and 3) quality of life indexes. It is determined that in most cases 20-30 indicators are used both in Russia and abroad to compile a comprehensive index of socio-economic development of cities; these are usually aggregated into 5-6 groups (subindexes). The linear scaling method is most often applied to normalize index indicators, and the final integral score is formed as an arithmetic mean or weighted average and is presented in a point scale (from 0 to 1, 10 or 100).

The analysis shows that at present there are no generally accepted methods for compiling indexes of socio-economic development of cities, either in the world or in Russia. There are noticeable methodological discrepancies in the selection of areas of socio-economic development of a city that are included in the comprehensive assessment, as well as indicators for their evaluation. However, there are a limited number of aspects of urban development, e. g. economic development, human capital etc., for which indicators and assessment approaches have become common in the international practice, while not a single indicator could be considered established in Russian practice.

Russian practice of compiling urban indexes falls significantly behind the world one. The authors identified principal limitations of compiling Russian indexes of socio-economic development of the cities, the most important of them being: 1) the absence of most commonly used indicators for assessing the development for cities having the «urban settlements» municipal status (in Russian «gorodskoeposelenie» -the lowest level of municipalities hierarchy); 2) poor development of methods for assessing a number of important components of the socio-economic development of cities (transport, social infrastructure, environmental situation, human capital). The existing barriers limit possible compilation of complex indexes of socio-economic development of Russian cities to only a small sample of cities, and also cause the low representation of Russian cities in international indexes, thus making it impossible to compare the cities of this country with other cities in the world.

1. Antonov E. V. Demographic and economic asymmetry of urban development in the Urals, Siberia, and the Far East in 1991-2014, Regional Research of Russia, 2018, vol. 8, no. 1, p. 16-33.

2. Bityukova V.R. Integral’naja ocenka jekologicheskoj situacii gorodov Rossii [The integral estimation of ecological situation of Russian cities and towns], Regional'nye issledovanija, 2014, no. 4, p. 49-57. (In Russian)

3. Dobrolyubova Y.S. Obzor zarubezhnyh social’no-ekologicheskih rejtingov gorodov i ih sravnenie s rossijskimi analogami [Review of foreign socio-environmental city ratings and their comparison with the Russian analogues], Regional'nye issledovanija, 2015, no. 4, p. 65-75. (In Russian)

4. Global urban indicators database, version 2, Global Urban Observatory, United Nations Human Settlements Programme Ed., Nairobi, Kenya, UN-Habitat Publ., 2002, 41 p.

5. Gun'ko M.S. Malye goroda central’noj chasti Evropejskoj Rossii: sostojanie i rol’ v organizacii prostranstva [Small Towns of Central Part of European Russia: Current Situation and Role in Organization of Space], Izvestiya RAN. Seriya geograficheskaya, 2015, no. 2, p. 43-52. (In Russian)

6. Kasimov N.S., Bityukova V.R., Malhazova S.M., Kosheleva N.E., Nikiforova E.M., Shartova N.V., Vlasov D.V., Timonin S.A., Kraynov V.N. Regiony i goroda Rossii: integral'naja ocenka ekologicheskogo sostojanija [Regions and cities of Russia: the integrated assessment of the state of the environment], Moscow: IP Filimonov MV Publ., 2014, 560 p. (In Russian)

7. Lyubovnyi VYa. Monoprofil'nye goroda v uslovijah krizisa: sostojanie, problemy, vozmozhnosti reabilitacii [Monotowns under crisis: actual state, problems and opportunities for rehabilitation], Moscow: ZAO «Dortranspechat» Publ, 2009, 104 p. (In Russian)

8. Nefyodova T.G., Treivish A.I. Goroda i sel’skaya mestnost’: sostoyanie i sootnoshenie v prostranstve Rossii [Cities and countryside in Russia: their state and correlation], Regional'nye issledovanija, 2010, no. 2(28), p. 42-57. (In Russian)

9. Nefyodova T.G., Treivish A.I. «Powerful» and «sick» cities of Russia, Poljusa i centry rosta v regional'nom razvitii [Poles and centres of growth in regional development], Moscow, 1998, p. 135145. (in Russian).

10. The state of the world’s cities 2001, United Nations for Human Settlements Ed., Nairobi, Kenya, UN-Habitat Publ., 2001, 125 p.

11. Turgel' I.D. Problemy formirovanija gosudarstvennoj politiki podderzhki monogorodov Rossii [Problems of developing the state policy of supporting Russian monotowns], Idei i idealy, 2010, vol. 1, no. 2, p. 94-105. (In Russian)

12. Zemlyansky D.Yu., Lamanov S.V. Scenarii razvitija monoprofil’nyh gorodov Rossii [Scenarios of development for the mono-functional towns in Russia], Vestn. Mosk. un-ta. Ser. 5. Geogr.., 2015, no. 4, p. 69-74. (In Russian)

13. Zubarevich N.V., Safronov S.G. Razvitie bol’shih gorodov Rossii v 2010-h godah [Russia largest cities development in the 2010s], Regional'nye issledovanija, 2019, no. 1, p. 39-51. (In Russian)

14. ARCADIS. Sustainable Cities Index 2016 Putting people at the heart of city sustainability, URL: https://www.arcadis.com/media/0/6/6/%7B06687980-3179-47AD-89FD-F6AFA76EBB73%7DSustainable%20Cities%20Index%202016%20Global%20Web.pdf (access date 07.2018).

15. AT Kearney. Global Cities 201 7. Leaders in a World of Disruptive Innovation, URL: https://www.atkearney.com/global-cities/full-report (access date 07.2018).

16. Domofond.ru. Rejting 250 krupnejshih gorodov Rossii 2017 goda. [Rating of 250 largest cities of Russia 2017] (in Russian), URL: https://www.domofond.ru/city-ratings (access date 07.2018).

17. EASYPARK. 2017 Smart Cities Index, URL: https://easyparkgroup.com/smart-cities-index/ (access date 07.2018).

18. Finansovyi universitet. Itogi issledovanij kachestva zhizni v krupnyh i srednih rossijskih goroda [The results of the analysis of quality of life in large and medium cities of Russia] (in Russian), URL: http://www.fa.ru/News/2017-11-27-life_quality.aspx (access date 07.2018).

19. Institut ekonomiki goroda. Rejting stolichnyh gorodov Rossii ot Fonda «Institut jekonomiki goroda» [Rating of regional capital cities of Russia by the Institute for urban economics] (in Russian), URL: http://www.urbaneconomics.ru/research/analytics/rating_city_IUE (access date 07.2018).

20. Kommersant. 100 luchshih gorodov Rossii. [The best 100 cities of Russia] (in Russian), URL: https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2158894 (access date 07.2018).

21. McKinsey & Company. 2011 Urban Sustainability Index, URL: https://ru.scribd.com/document/97173744/McKinsey-2011-Urban-Sustainability-Index (access date 07.2018).

22. Mercer. Quality of living city ranking, URL: https://mobilityexchange.mercer.com/Insights/quality-of-living-rankings (access date 07.2018).

23. Monocle. THE LIVEABLE CITIES INDEX 2010 - Global , URL: https://monocle.com/magazine/issues/35/the-liveable-cities-index-2010/ (access date 07.2018).

24. NUMBEO. About Quality of Life Indices At This Website, URL: https://www.numbeo.com/quality-of-life/indices_explained. jsp (access date 07.2018).

25. PWC. Cities of Opportunity, URL: https://www.pwc.com/us/en/cities-of-opportunity/assets/cities-opp-2012.pdf (access date 07.2018).

26. SGM. Rejting ustojchivogo razvitija gorodov RF za 2013 god. [Rating of urban sustainable development in the Russian Federation 2013. A report of rating agency «SGM»] (in Russian), URL: http://www.agencysgm.com/projects/Rating2013.pdf (access date 07.2018).

27. SGM. Sostavlenie rejtingov ustojchivogo razvitija gorodov Rossii [Development of urban sustainable development ratings for Russian cities] (in Russian), URL: http://www.agencysgm.com/projects/sostavlenie-reytinga-gorodov-rossii-v-oblasti-ustoychivogo-razvitiya/ (access date 07.2018).

28. Strategija prostranstvennogo razvitija Rossijskoj Federacii na period do 2025 goda [Strategy of Russian Federation spatial development until 2025 year], [Electronic resource]: Rasporjazhenie Pravitel’stva RF ot 13.02.2019 N 207-r <Ob utverzhdenii Strategii prostranstvennogo razvitija Rossijskoj Federacii na period do 2025 goda [About the approval of the Strategy of Russian Federation spatial development until 2025 year]> (in Russian), URL: http://government.ru/docs/35733/ (access date 01.2020).

29. The Economist Intelligence Unit. Global Liveability Index 2018, URL: https://www.eiu.com/public/topical_report.aspx? campaignid=Liveability2018 (access date 07.2018).

30. Urbanika. Integral’nyj rejting sta krupnejshih gorodov Rossii (Top-100) po dannym 2010 goda [Integral rating of 100 largest cities of Russia (Top-100) by 2010 data] (in Russian), URL: http://urbanica.spb.ru/research/ratings/integralnyj-rejting-sta-krupnejshih/ (access date 07.2018).

31. Zubarevich N.V Krupnye goroda Rossii: lidery i autsajdery [Large cities in Russia: leaders and outsiders], Demoskop Weekly, 2013, no. 551-552 (in Russian), URL: http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2013/0551/demoscope551.pdf (access date 01.2020).