Actors in the development of non-capital industrial cities of Tatarstan in the vision and assessment of their residents

Abstract

The purpose of the article the author sees as the identification of actors of non-capital industrial cities of Tatarstan, the clarification of their relationship and forms of participation in urban development. The activities of urban communities and their leaders are considered in the article from the standpoint of its perception by residents, in terms of influencing their decision to stay in the city/leave it. The exploratory nature of the study led to the use of the method of group problem-oriented interviews carried out by the author in 2021 during reconnaissance field trips to the cities of Tatarstan: Naberezhnye Chelny, Nizhnekamsk, Almetyevsk, Zelenodolsk. They took place in families that made it possible to increase the number of interviewees, compare the opinions of different generations and achieve a comfortable atmosphere for conducting interviews, and were accompanied by notes. The study preliminary confirmed the hypothesis that the key players in non-capital industrial settlements in Russia are the municipal authorities and communities that develop around their leading enterprises. The significance of both in different cities varies, that depends on the industry, functional affiliation of industries and a number of subjective factors, primarily on the ability of leaders-managers to build a strategy and tactics of participation in urban processes. The main forms of such participation for manufacturing companies are: social support for employees, sponsorship of city events, inclusion in regional programmes to improve the urban environment and the implementation of their own projects in the field of healthcare, specialised and general education, sports, culture, and city spaces. Representatives of the city administration more often perform not only managerial functions, but also act as a link between the actors of urban processes. Individual small and medium-sized businesses take part in the latter, and the role of cultural workers depends on the development of the cultural environment of the city. The practices of urban activists are limited to single actions, although activism is revealed at the level of courtyards and volunteer movements. It has been empirically confirmed that a significant contribution to the development of the cities of Tatarstan is made by regional authorities. In the indicated context, the life strategies of citizens reveal complex trajectories that depend, among other things, on the activities of the actors under consideration that affect the level and quality of life in the city, and residents´ opportunities for self-realisation.