Russian federalism: regional policy of supporting municipal units

Proceeding from a view that a municipal level of governance seems to be a matter-of-course basis both for federate relations and an effective decentralized decision-making system in modern economy, we consider the development issues of municipal units and population settlement patterns. We also discuss what informational base is required to make good strategic decisions on of population settlement patterns, and try to identify what threats the recessionary events, which are progressing in Russian economy, may pose to municipal units and what capacities municipal units have to resist.