Priority Geostrategic Regions of Spatial Development Strategies for Russia

The article examines the issues of selecting objects of priority state support in strategic planning documents and assesses the approach to defining geostrategic territories in the Strategy for Spatial Development of the Russian Federation adopted in 2019 and in the new version adopted in 2024. It is shown that the criteria for classifying regions as geostrategic (or nongeostrategic) are not specific, which prevents targeting of state support at solving those problems in the development of regions that are due to their geostrategic position. It is shown that the choice of the accelerated rates of economic growth and quality of life of the population as target indicators for priority geostrategic regions was unjustified; the target indicators were objectively unattainable. The article presents assessments of the use of institutional mechanisms that ensure the priority development of geostrategic regions: state programs and preferential regimes. The issues of implementing a new priority of spatial development—reference settlements in geostrategic regions—are considered.