Zvyagintseva O.S. Integrated Assessment of Rural Development Potential (Case of Stavropol Krai)

Abstract. Rural areas play an important role in ensuring the strategic development of Russia. On the one hand, they act as a spatial basis for the development of agriculture; on the other hand, they contribute to the preservation of the local mentality, natural areas, and living conditions for people. The relevance of this research is due to the presence of a number of socio-economic problems characteristic of rural areas and affecting the quality of life of the rural population. The effectiveness of state rural development programs largely depends on the completeness, reliability, and quality of the information that is the basis for their development. The purpose of the study is to develop and test an approach to the assessment of rural development potential using the example of Stavropol Krai. The approach is based on the understanding of rural areas as a complex natural and socio-economic system, which formed the basis for structuring data for the calculation of the integral indicator of potential. The assessment conducted allows us to compare the municipalities of the region and rural areas with each other. At the same time, the comparison can be carried out both in the context of development opportunities and constraints and by subsystems of rural areas: economic, social, and natural ones. Through an integrated assessment of the development potential of rural areas in Stavropol Krai, a ranking of districts identified leaders and laggards in terms of rural development. The data is valuable for creating specialized rural development programs, such as targeted support for underdeveloped municipalities and incentives for highly developed rural areas. Such studies can serve as a starting point for further research in the field of assessing the development potential of the rural areas.
Key words: rural areas, development potential, agro-industrial complex, integrated assessment, systematic approach, ranking, rural development policy.
Citation. Zvyagintseva O. S., 2024. Integrated Assessment of Rural Development Potential (Case of Stavropol Krai). Regionalnaya ekonomika. Yug Rossii [Regional Economy. South of Russia], vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 140-149. (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/re.volsu.2024.1.14