The main objective of the article is to analyze the Unified List of Core Settlements as one of the main innovations and main mechanisms for implementing the Strategy for Spatial Development of the Russian Federation for the Period up to 2030 with a Forecast up to 2036. It is shown that the Unified List of Core Settlements is largely based on the existing municipal structure of the country: in most federal subjects, not only the principle of “one urban okrug/municipal okrug or district—one core settlement” has been implemented, but also the administrative centers of municipalities have been selected as core settlements, which entails the need to organize access to social services in core settlements for residents of adjacent territories within the boundaries of municipalities. At the same time, regions have been identified that have deviated from the specified principle in the direction of both a decrease (11 federal subjects) and an increase (12 federal subjects) in the number of core settlements. It has also been shown that more than 87% of Russian cities have received the status of a core settlement; therefore, the risks of underfunding within the framework of state policy primarily concern rural settlements and urban-type settlements. The problems of the proposed classification of core settlements are indicated, including the absence of multifunctional core settlements, the incorrectness of classifying core settlements as urban agglomerations, the absence of a hierarchy of core settlements of different population sizes and status in terms of providing services of varying complexity to the population. The need to address the delimitation of settlements, the importance of finding ways to economically develop service delivery centers, and the development of mechanisms for interaction between core settlements and adjacent territories are discussed.
O. V. Kuznetsova (Sun,) studied this question.