Tools for inter-level and inter-municipal interaction in the management of agglomeration development: The case of Yekaterinburg

Purpose: to identify configuration of vertical (inter-level) and horizontal (inter-municipal) mechanisms of interaction in the management of agglomeration development, taking into account the stages of the management cycle and ensuring balanced development of the core and periphery.

Methods: systematic, comparative, statistical, institutional analysis, case study, functional typology are used. The object of the study is the Yekaterinburg urban agglomeration, which was chosen due to a long history of inter-municipal cooperation, the heterogeneity of its constituent municipalities and the representativeness of the problems for Russian agglomerations.

Results: it is proved that the Yekaterinburg agglomeration is a heterogeneous territorial and economic system, the management of which is of a hybrid nature. It has been established that horizontal mechanisms dominate at the stages of initiation, examination and approval of decisions, while vertical channels remain crucial at the stages of resource provision and regulatory approval. A functional classification of inter-municipal projects has been developed, which makes it possible to design management decisions in a targeted manner, taking into account the differentiated involvement of municipalities in agglomeration processes.

Conclusions and Relevance: the hybrid management model ensures the promotion of strategic initiatives and coordination of the interests of participants, but contains systemic limitations: dependence on vertical financing in the absence of fixed financial support for inter municipal projects, the asymmetry of power between the core and the periphery, the legal non-requirement of horizontal agreements, as well as the lack of mechanisms for synchronizing interdependent projects and monitoring their implementation. It is established that achieving the development targets of an agglomeration requires its institutional design as a management entity with the definition of functions, sources of financing and decision-making procedures at the inter-municipal level. The prospects for further research include a quantitative assessment of the inter-municipal projects efficiency and a comparative analysis of other Russian agglomerations’ practices.

1. Balatsky E.V. The multilevel management system for Russian economy amid sanctions. Journal of New Economy. 2024; 25(2):6–26. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/lohiky. https://doi.org/10.29141/2658-5081-2024-25-2-1 (In Russ.)

2. Belousova E.A. Municipal socio-economic development strategies: The conceptualisation of the post-growth factor. The Manager. 2026; 17(1):84–97. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/vocodi. https://doi.org/10.29141/2218-5003-2026-17-1-6 (In Russ.)

3. Mokhov V.G., Pluzhnikov V.G. Modelling economic development of an industrial metropolis. Journal of New Economy. 2024; 25(1):28–31. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/rpjpqv. https://doi.org/10.29141/2658-5081-2024-25-1-4 (In Russ.)

4. Vasilev S.A. Foreign experience in organizing state and business relationship and its impact on urbanization. Lomonosov Economics Journal. 2023; 58(6):231–246. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/qrgokn. https://doi.org/10.55959/MSU0130-0105-6-58-6-13 (In Russ.)

5. Alcaide Manthey N. Postgrowth cities in Germany: Challenges and opportunities of collaborative governance. Cities. 2025; 163:106064. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/kknmem. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2025.106064 (In Eng.)

6. Dalheim H. A strategic planning process. In: Planning better cities: A practical guide. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2023. p. 115–149. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33947-9_5 (In Eng.)

7. Du M. An analytical framework for regional integration development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area urban agglomeration using fuzzy clustering. Discover Computing. 2025; 28(1):174. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/ubttxk. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10791-025-09705-z (In Eng.)

8. Kulikova A.N. Influence of the agglomeration factor on labor market indicators with a case study of the Barnaul urban agglomeration. Regional Research of Russia. 2025; 15(4):732–741. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/hzopje. https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079970525600714 (In Eng.)

9. Wu Y., Zhang Y., Zhang B. The effect of urban agglomeration land use zoning on sustainable development goals. Scientific Reports. 2025; 15(1):33427. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/bawjpo. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-18892-0 (In Eng.)

10. Bezrukov L.A., Abramova Z.V. Uneven development and typology of municipalities of the Irkutsk region. The Bulletin of Irkutsk State University. Series: Earth Sciences. 2024; 49:3–28. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/cfjxyo. https://doi.org/10.26516/2073-3402.2024.49.3 (In Russ.)

11. Yarasheva A.V., Makar S.V. Social well-being of the population: Territorial differences. Population. 2025; 28(3):150–162. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/rxhczr. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.24412/1561-7785-2025-3-150-162

12. Enlil Z., Dinçer I. Political dilemmas in the making of a sustainable city region: The case of Istanbul. Sustainability. 2022; 14(6):3299. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/vdtqet. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14063299 (In Eng.)

13. Deng X., Song M. Agglomeration and convergence of regional development process in developed regions. In: Development Geography. Singapore: Springer, 2025, p. 147–202. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-6917-2_5 (In Eng.)

14. Zhou M., Shao W., Huang L. From digital island to resilient networks: the impact of digital economy agglomeration on urban resilience in China. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. 2025; 12(1):1610. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/illsoc. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05874-w (In Eng.)

15. Enarsson D., Hinton J.B., Borgström S. Grassroots initiatives transforming cities toward postgrowth futures: Insights from the collaborative economy movement in Gothenburg, Sweden. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2024; 441:140824. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/nfxumh. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.140824 (In Eng.)

16. Hofferberth E. Postgrowth economics as a guide for systemic change: Theoretical and methodological foundations. Ecological Economics. 2025; 230:108521. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/tovmhn. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108521 (In Eng.)

17. Dvoryadkina E.B., Belousova E.A., Kaibicheva E.I. Economic well-being of municipalities and responsible development: Measurement possibilities. Journal of Wellbeing Technologies. 2024; 52(3):77–93. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/rekipa. https://doi.org/10.18799/26584956/2024/3/1887 (In Russ.)

18. Vendina O.I., Sheludkov A.V., Gritsenko A.A. City-agglomeration: Production and representation of the boundaries of spatial influence of Krasnodar. Regional Research of Russia. 2024; 14(S1):S10–S30. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/mihjpg. https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079970524600732 (In Eng.)

19. Salikov Y.A., Kuzmenko N.I., Zinovyeva I.S., Korolyuk E.V. Features of agglomeration effect of regional spatial system. In: Socioeconomic Systems: Paradigms for the Future. Vol. 314. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2021. P. 1415–1427. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/ikrykp. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56433-9_147 (In Eng.)

20. Sun B., Lu D., Zhang T., Huang X. Spatial agglomeration and decentralization of social economy. In: The Transforming Spatial Organization in the Information Age. Singapore: Springer, 2024. P. 63–95. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-2223-5_4 (In Eng.)

21. Kvint V.L., Seredyuk I.V. Strategic assessment of the compliance of open diffuse agglomerations with global, national and regional trends (Kemerovo region – Kuzbass agglomerations case study). Russian Journal of Industrial Economics. 2025; 18(1):7–23. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/mdqpqj. https://doi.org/10.17073/2072-1633-2025-1-1435 (In Russ.)

22. Lachininskii S.S., Logvinov I.A., Sorokin I.S. Modern methods for studying the spatial structure of urban agglomerations (a case study of the St. Petersburg urban agglomeration). Regional Research of Russia. 2024; 14(6):170–180. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/bugaju. https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079970524600100 (In Eng.)

23. Otter C. Planetary agglomeration. In: Environment, Agency, and Technology in Urban Life since c.1750. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2024. P. 25–48. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-46954-1_2 (In Eng.)

24. Kopytova E.D., Voroshilov N.V. Urban agglomerations of Russian regions: Development through the lens of their economic specialization. Lomonosov Economics Journal. 2025; 60(3):241–269. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/fayrks. https://doi.org/10.55959/MSU0130-0105-6-60-3-11 (In Russ.)

25. Okrepilov V.V., Korshunov I.V. Managing agglomeration development in the face of multiple competing goals: Challenges and solutions. Economic and Social Changes: Facts, Trends, Forecast. 2024; 17(1):60–78. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/dzdobv. https://doi.org/10.15838/esc.2024.1.91.3 (In Eng.)

26. Yanting Z. Agglomeration diseconomies. In: Dictionary of Contemporary Chinese Economics. Singapore: Springer, 2025. P. 878–879. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-4036-9_414 (In Eng.)

27. Barboza G., Braga A. Agglomeration and spillovers: Concentration versus dispersion. Evidence from regional innovative startups in Italy. The Journal of Technology Transfer. 2025. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/qouzrm. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-025-10293-9 (In Eng.)

28. Sobolev S.A. Formation a strategic planning toolkit to manage the development of Russian agglomerations. Intellect. Innovations. Investments. 2023; (2):75–87. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/cebzup. https://doi.org/10.25198/2077-7175-2023-2-75 (In Russ.)

29. Li X., Li Y.P., Huang G.H., Lv J., Ma Y., Li Y.F. A multi-scenario input-output economy-energy-environment nexus management model for Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2021; 317:128 141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128402 (In Eng.)

30. Zhao D., Song Y., Zhang M. Research on the resilience enhancement and spatial spillover effect of urban agglomeration construction. Sustainable Cities and Society. 2025; 134:106964. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/gegyxi. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2025.106964 (In Eng.)