AN ATTEMPT TO METHODOLOGIZE THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL TOWNS IN BULGARIA

This article is dedicated to medium-sized cities in Bulgaria. By revealing their peculiarity and structure, the author aims to initiate a debate on their development and search for optimal forms of implementing effective regional development policies in these medium-sized cities. The framework of these cities is that several smaller cities, even with a population of 1,000 people, gravitate towards them, while others are formally ranked between 5-9 thousand people, and others with a population of 14-19 thousand people. It is important to note that these cities have their own tradition and histories of urbanized areas, which is a necessary condition for their renaissance. In addition, they need to seek opportunities for new profiling or the formation of a brand or series of brands that would present them in the pan-European space as attractive centers of the regional economy. An important significance for their regional development is that they often appear as the core of several settlements, whose future depends on the state of the regional center and its ability to successfully develop regional economic policy.