Spatial-Planning Territory Organization аnd Sustainable Settlement Systems оf the Stavropol Region

Introduction. A traditional for geography study of the spatial and planning organization features of the territory has recently acquired a “new life” in strategic and territorial planning documents. At the same time, the formation of urban and municipal districts with the abolition of village councils lead to the fact that the most important link in strategic and territorial planning at the level of settlements “falls out”. Approbation of traditional geographic methods of spatial analysis in the context of urban development of the territory is the main goal of the study.Materials and research methods. The basis of the work was a variety of data and materials: state and municipal statistics (official), cadastral registration, strategic and territorial planning documents, materials of sociological surveys and a field survey results of cities and towns that are part of the Stavropol Territory. Using the methods of systemic geoinformation analysis, a structural model of the urban development of the Stavropol Territory containing a geodatabase and cartographic bases of various scales was created.The results of the study and their discussion. The study was carried out on different scales: the Stavropol Territory, macro-settlement areas, the main urban agglomerations of the Stavropol Territory (Stavropol and Caucasian Mineral Waters (CMW), individual municipalities). A general characteristic of the spatial planning organization of the Stavropol Territory is given, an analysis of its individual elements is made: linear (planning axes), nodal (planning centers and nodes), areal (planning zones), current trends in the development of the entire system and individual elements have been established and characterized. Five types of spatial planning zones in the territory of the region have been identified. A structural model of urban development of the territory has been developed using the methods of geoinformation analysis and mapping. The main trends in the spatial planning organization of the territory are determined – concentration and polarization. The main problems of the spatial development of the region are identified and characterized.Conclusions. For the purposes of strategic and territorial planning of the Stavropol Territory, an analysis of the features of the spatial planning organization of the territory makes it possible to determine the territorial potentials in the form of areas and points of growth. Internal differences in the spatial and planning development of the Stavropol Territory show significant intra-regional differentiation with a high degree of geographical contrast and polarization of the territory. The asymmetry of regional development is manifested in the shift of socio-economic and urban centers of gravity in the western and southern directions - towards the main agglomerations of the region - Stavropol and CMW. The proposed structural model of urban development shows the need to take into account the role and potential of grassroots rural settlements, which are actually “erased” under the new municipal reform and the formation of large urban and municipal districts.