Strategic planning of a city development on the results of the previous strategic plan of its development

Abstract

The goal of the article is to study the practice of strategic management of the development of territorial communities in Ukraine and to formulate recommendations on the principles of updating long-term and medium-term priorities of local development on this basis. According to the analytical review and the results of empirical studies, the main types of possible reactions of local authorities to change have been substantiated, among which are singled out the following ones as disregard of changes, delay of reaction, symptomatic response (reaction), partial gradual changes, radical changes. The analysis of the historical background and substantial logic of strategic planning practice transformation were carried out at the municipal level. Estimation of the current state of strategic planning of social-economic development of cities in Ukraine was conducted; the factors of influence on the formation of methodology of strategic plan development, which were implemented in local conditions, were defined. Based on the critical analysis of the methodological tools of strategic management of local development it is proved that the time for which strategic planning of city development is done, irrespective of time frames it is determined, contradicts the assumption of immutability of key environmental factors. On the basis of this, the problem of updating key categories of a strategic plan as a document that plays a formalizing role in the management of socio-economic development of the city for the long term period is particularly important. On the analysis of the case of updating strategic plan of development of town Korosten it is shown that essential political, social, economic and demographic changes in Ukraine don’t allow to replicate the goals and directions of the development of self-governing territorial communities for a future period by establishing only new indicators and parameters. Consequently, it is necessary to review desirable trajectories of development as well as criteria on the basis of which evaluation of the success of this process will be made according to requirements of a changing external environment. It is found that the effectiveness of the implementation of the previously adopted strategic plan of local development is a prerequisite for awareness of the local community about the relevance of the development and adoption of a new strategic document for the next period of time. At same time it was found that the significant changes that have occurred not only in our country but the whole world for the past 5–10 years require a substantial rethinking of priorities virtually for all Ukrainian cities. It is proved that the development of a new strategic plan should be based on an assessment of the city progress on the basis of statistical indicators, on the level of achievement of planned in the previous strategic plan goals and evaluation of the city by its inhabitants and local entrepreneurs. It is simultaneously necessary pay special attention to new opportunities and threats that have emerged since the development of a previous strategic plan.