Municipal socio-economic development strategies: The conceptualisation of the post-growth factor

Post-growth as a set of conditions for the economic activity constitutes an important factor in municipal strategic planning. The study aims to assess the practice of strategic planning of municipalities’ development at the post-growth stage. Methodologically, the research rests on the theories of strategic planning and management, and the concept of sustainable development. The methods include semantic mapping, synthesis, comparative, structural, and content analysis. The evidence base consists of the 2010 and 2015–2024 socio-economic indicators, as well as strategic planning documents of the Sverdlovsk oblast’s municipalities. The article proposes a method for evaluating the municipalities’ socio-economic development strategies, which involves five elements: the main goal in the context of post-growth; the use of the economic growth premise; the consideration of municipal resource deficits; mechanisms for overcoming resource constraints; and the integration of the principle of responsibility into municipal governance. Results of testing the method, using data from six territories, showed that the strategizing of the municipalities under a post-growth scenario – where resource constraints lead to a decrease in quality of life and standard of living – is characterized by the introduction of elements that mitigate negative consequences. At the same time, the strategizing of the municipalities with a reproduction base that allows them to maintain the achieved quality of life in the long term is characterized by inertia. The paper concludes that the strategies of the municipalities under post-growth should consider resource shortages, formulate goals in qualitative rather than quantitative terms, focus on the territory’s fundamental problems and ways to overcome them, and provide for the integration of the principle of responsibility into municipal governance.