Index approach to assessing the quality of the urban environment as a tool for improving the efficiency of municipal management

Bukalova Svetlana Vladimirovna PhD in History Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science and State Policy of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Orel Branch 302028, Russia, Orel, bul. Pobedy, 5a stl1612@yandex.ru Other publications by this author     Modnikova Tat'yana Nikolaevna PhD in Law Associate Professor, Department of Constitutional, Administrative and Criminal Law, Central Russian Institute of Management – Branch of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration 302028, Russia, Orel region, Orel, Oktyabrskaya str., 12 mmts77@mail.ru

Korneichev Aleksandr Yur'evich Graduate student; Department of History, Political Science and Public Policy; Central Russian Institute of Management – Branch of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration 302028, Russia, Orel region, Orel, Oktyabrskaya str., 12 adm-orel-loshakov@yandex.ru

Introduction The urban environment is the sphere of daily life of a modern person. The concept of the urban environment is characterized by complexity, a combination of external ("environment") and internal ("filling") aspects, combining objective and subjective ^[1]. From this point of view, the urban environment appears as a correlation between the object-spatial environment and interpersonal interactions in it. The state of the environment, defined most often as landscaping, is directly related to the state of public order and public safety. The basic level of ensuring the comfort of the urban environment in the Russian Federation is the level of local government. A functional approach to the characterization of the urban environment has become widespread, in which it appears as an integral, compact, often centering spatial formation, the structure of which is determined by the needs of the people inhabiting it ^[2].

The prospects of improving the quality of life of 3/4 of the population of our country are associated with the development of the urban environment. The Spatial Development Strategy of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2025 notes as obstacles to ensuring sustainable and balanced spatial development of the country the low level of comfort of the urban environment in most cities [On approval of the Spatial Development Strategy of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2025: Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 02/13/2019 No. 207-r (ed. from 30.09.2022) // NW OF the Russian Federation. 2019. No. 7 (Part II). Article 702; 2022. No. 41. Article 7109]. Improving the quality of life in cities is thus a strategic priority for the State. The implementation of national projects contributes to the achievement of this goal. On the eve of the start of their implementation, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that citizens should feel the changes for the better from them in their current lives, and not on paper ^[3]. The federal project "Formation of a comfortable urban environment" has been implemented since 2019 as an integral part of the national project "Housing and urban Environment" [Passport of the federal project "Formation of a comfortable urban environment" [Electronic resource]. URL: https://minstroyrf.gov.ru/upload/iblock/657/FP_Formirovanie_komfortnoj_gorodskoj_sredy-09.01.2023.pdf]. As targets, the project "Formation of a comfortable urban environment" provides for the creation of a favorable living environment in 60% of Russian cities and the involvement of 30% of residents in measures to improve the urban environment. Within the framework of the project, about 300 billion rubles were spent, which made it possible to improve more than a hundred public spaces ^[4]. Thus, the urban environment appears as an object of management and a field for the implementation of public policy.

Materials and methods The activities of local self-government bodies, including those aimed at providing a comfortable environment for residents of the municipality, are the subject of assessment carried out by both the State authorities and civil society institutions. It seems relevant to establish the relationship between the criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of local government by regional authorities and indicators for assessing the quality of the urban environment developed by independent research centers. To solve this problem, a comparative analysis of the main groups of parameters presented in the relevant assessment documents should be carried out. As subjects of comparison, indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of local government bodies of urban districts are considered – a total of 56 indicators [List of indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of local government bodies of municipal, urban districts and municipal districts (approved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated April 28, 2008 N 607) // [Electronic resource]. URL: https://base.garant.ru/193208/#block_1000] [The list of additional indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of the activities of local governments of municipal, urban districts and municipal districts (approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated December 17, 2012 N 1317) (with amendments and additions) // SPS "Garant" [Electronic resource]. URL: https://base.garant.ru/70286210/#block_1000], indicators of the Urban Environment Quality Index, covering 36 different parameters [Matrix of indicators of the Urban Environment Quality Index // Urban Environment Quality Index (Official website) [Electronic resource]. URL: https://èíäåêñ-ãîðîäîâ .Russian Federation/#/methodology] and indicators of the Index of quality of life in Russian cities [Index of quality of life in Russian cities (Official website) [Electronic resource]. URL: https://citylifeindex.ru/?ysclid=lmufesph7k948432344] – 300 indicators.

Results Activities aimed at creating a comfortable living environment for the population are multifaceted and include a wide range of preparatory, managerial and practical procedures, consisting in analyzing the current situation in the municipality, planning events and predicting their results, legal regulation of the mechanism of their implementation and, in fact, the execution and control of their implementation. It should be remembered that the availability of well-maintained courtyards and public areas, modern transport and communal infrastructure, ensuring public order, is not sufficient to ensure favorable living conditions and satisfaction of the population with the quality of life. It is necessary not to forget about maintaining a high level of material prosperity, providing the population with decent-paying jobs. As part of the work to improve the quality of life of citizens, a complex of infrastructure solutions affecting the modernization of transport and utilities, the construction of social facilities, and landscaping plays an important role. Thus, the focus in managing the creation of a comfortable urban environment is shifted to ensuring the integrated nature of management measures at the municipal level, solving the problem of landscaping as a set of measures aimed at improving the comfort of living conditions of citizens. The universal concept of landscaping appears as a complex multifaceted activity, the content of which is not limited only to its "traditional" area, but also affects, perhaps, all spheres of public life. The formation of a comfortable urban environment includes the implementation of landscaping activities as its main component, but meanwhile covers the implementation of other measures - the development of social infrastructure, trade and consumer services, housing and communal services, organizational and managerial actions to implement this policy. For the development of the urban environment as a factor of economic growth and the creation of social capital, special knowledge and managerial competencies are required.

Landscaping of public territories is a direct responsibility of local governments, one of the main powers of public legal entities. It is obvious that the management of the creation of a comfortable living environment is the most important area of activity of local authorities and is thus an essential criterion for the effectiveness of their activities. This determines the need to create scientific tools for assessing the quality of the living environment in its relationship with the work of municipal government.

In the most general form, the effectiveness of the activities of municipal government bodies can be represented as the quality of their activities to address issues of local importance, that is, the quality of the implementation of the powers assigned to them by federal legislation. The functioning of local government institutions presupposes their control by the State. In accordance with the norms of federal legislation, the assessment of the activities of local governments is carried out according to approved indicators. Let's consider what place the topic of creating a comfortable environment of the municipality occupies in assessing the effectiveness of the executive branch of municipal government.

Currently, monitoring of the effectiveness of local government bodies in municipal districts, municipal and urban districts is carried out on the basis of indicators fixed in the decree of the Government of the Russian Federation. At the same time, grants may be allocated from regional budgets to municipalities in order to facilitate or encourage the achievement of the best values of indicators.

As you can see, the quality of the living environment does not appear among the independent criteria for the effectiveness of local governments, most of which relate mainly to the socio-economic sphere of the municipality, without being directly included in the list of issues of local importance ^[5].

Along with this, in 2019, by order of the Government of the Russian Federation, the methodology for forming the Urban Environment Quality Index was approved. The index, which is complex in nature, makes it possible to highlight the advantages and identify problem areas of functionally delimited urban spaces, and more broadly, to change the quality of life in the city and stimulate the emergence of a new urban economy. The index is also aimed at increasing the openness to citizens and the public of the results of the work of authorities in the field of urban environment development and creating a basis for evaluating the effectiveness of their work in this area.

The Urban Environment Quality Index was developed by the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation and integrated into the national project "Housing and Urban Environment". The goal is to increase the average Index value by one and a half times by 2030 and increase the share of cities with a favorable urban environment to 80%. The interim goal is to increase the indicator by 30% by 2024 and halve the number of cities with an unfavorable urban environment [Urban Environment Quality Index (Official website) [Electronic resource]. URL: https://èíäåêñ-ãîðîäîâ .RF/#/].

The Index values are taken into account when determining the amount of subsidies to support state programs of the subjects of the Russian Federation and municipal programs for the formation of a modern urban environment implemented within the framework of the national project "Housing and Urban Environment". Thus, the annual independent rating serves as a tangible assessment of the effectiveness of management activities to improve the urban environment. This assessment is based on scientifically based, multidimensional and verifiable indicators.

Currently, the living environment in all 1117 Russian cities, differentiated by size and climatic conditions, is assessed on the basis of the Quality Index. Continuous positive dynamics is recorded in all their groups. As Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin noted at a press conference dedicated to the presentation of the results of determining the Urban Environment Quality Index for 2022, if we adhere to such a pace, the quality of the city environment by 2030 should exceed the planned indicators by more than 1.5 times ^[6].

In addition, the state-owned VEB Corporation.In 2021, the Russian Federation, in cooperation with the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, together with the consulting company PricewaterhouseCoopers and RANEPA under the President of Russia, presented an information and analytical system for urban development - the Index of Quality of Life in Russian Cities. In 2023, the quality of life was indexed in 218 cities with a population of more than 200 thousand people (as well as in additional 15 administrative centers and 17 "strategic cities" with fewer inhabitants), which were divided into several clusters depending on the size, geographical conditions and role in the socio-economic life of the region. "Cosmopolitan" cities with millions of people, "northern" cities, "affluent cities", "points of attraction", "regional centers" and "cities of local importance" were identified. The methodology for calculating the Index includes more than 300 indicators combined into 11 groups that have a decisive impact on the quality of life: housing conditions, landscaping, income and employment, safety, health, education, mobility, ecology, free time, social activity, citizens' rights and their satisfaction with the quality of life.

The presented quality Indices are composite, including both objectively measurable and subjectively evaluated criteria and allowing for taking into account data with different units of measurement ^[8].

The index of quality of life in Russian cities is intended to become an analytical support for making investment decisions. It should show in which city such investments will have the greatest social effect, indicate the advantages and areas of urban development, and solve practical issues of a comprehensive assessment of promising investment projects ^[7]. Thus, the city authorities are also interested in a corresponding improvement in the Index indicators.

Note that the Index of the WEB.The Russian Federation can also be considered as a management tool, since VEB sees its mission in facilitating the launch of investment projects that have a major impact on the economy and the quality of life of cities. During 2024-2026, VEB.The Russian Federation intends to invest about 1 trillion rubles in the economy of Russian cities. The key areas of investment are the creation of infrastructure, modernization of public transport, street lighting, water supply and sanitation, and the construction of schools.

A comparison of the substantive assessment areas adopted in the three assessment systems under consideration is presented in Table 1.

Table 1 - Summary table of assessment areas

As follows from the table, some of the enlarged groups of assessment parameters in different assessment systems coincide completely or partially, while others are unique. This indicates the need for the municipal government to focus simultaneously on different quality and efficiency assessment systems.

Conclusions An analysis of the compliance of the criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of the OMSU with the Urban Environment Quality Index and the Quality of Life Index in Russian cities shows that only one indicator is fully consistent with each other - the proportion of children aged one to six years waiting for a place in kindergarten, which is present in all three monitoring. The urban environment quality index uses such a criterion of the effectiveness of the work of the local self-government bodies as the proportion of apartment buildings located on land plots for which state cadastral registration has been carried out.

The index of quality of life in Russian cities has more similarities with the List of indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of local government. According to their drafters, the quality of life is directly affected by such results of the work of local authorities as the development of the small and medium-sized business sector, the regulatory condition of highways and the total area of residential premises per inhabitant on average.

Attention is drawn to the use, along with objective data, of subjective assessments of citizens as criteria for both the effectiveness of municipal management and the quality of life in cities and the urban environment. However, if in the case of indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of local government, we are talking about the assessment by the population of the work of authorities, then the Quality Index of the city environment evaluates only the involvement of citizens in local government, and the VEB Index.The Russian Federation literally puts human assessment procedures and their needs at the center, including more than two dozen evaluative indicators and widely using respondents' answers to determine the parameters of the quality of the urban environment.

The conducted research has shown that the Urban Environment Quality Index and the Quality of Life Index in Russian cities can be considered as management tools that determine the priorities of local government, along with a legally established List of performance indicators of local government in urban districts. A comparative analysis of the content of the three assessment models made it possible to identify common clusters of indicators in them, which are thus the field of priority application of the efforts of local authorities. At the same time, "blind spots" located on the periphery of attention were also identified. Thus, the issues of ecology and landscaping are not the subject of evaluating the effectiveness of local government bodies, which, as it were, pushes them into the background among the tasks of municipal management. Thus, the need to establish at the regulatory level a closer correspondence between the criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of municipal government bodies and indicators of the dynamics of the quality of the living environment of the relevant municipality is theoretically justified. The integration of such links into the order of interaction between local and regional authorities in the system of public authority can serve to intensify targeted efforts for the integrated development of the urban environment.

In order to solve the problems of improving the quality of life in a municipality through the development of the quality of the urban environment, local governments, both in their daily work practice and in the field of strategic management of the development of the municipality, need to focus on the full range of criteria of the proposed assessment systems.