The article studies the transformation and regulation of the phenomenon of unevenness of socio-economic space. We provide detailed comments on a fundamental nature of the unevenness of development of socio-economic space in any territorial entity (region, country, district, etc.) and point out the importance of research on the unevenness of development from the standpoint of science and management. We substantiate a priority approach to the study of unevenness; in the framework of this approach we move consistently from quantitative assessment of the phenomenon of unevenness of space through identification of specifics and patterns to forecasting and practical recommendations for management. All this is related to the prospects of further research. We present the importance and relevance of this study, which aims to identify specifics of the phenomenon of unevenness of socio-economic development of cities and districts of the Murmansk Oblast, and to forecast its dynamics and regulation in present-day crisis conditions. The paper presents a comprehensive vision for methodological support of research on the differentiation of socio-economic space; it also substantiates the authors’ own version of methodological tools to assess the phenomenon of differentiation of socio-economic development in cities and districts of the region. Having tested the proposed techniques that help assess differentiation, we consider comparative dynamics of cities and districts of the Murmansk Oblast: we rank the objects by level of socio-economic development and identify trends and patterns in the development of the phenomenon. We make a forecast of how the crisis can impact the development of differentiation between cities and districts of the Murmansk Oblast according to two scenarios: the basic scenario assumes that most social indicators will either remain stable or experience slight differentiation, and a further slight increase is expected in the differentiation of economic indicators. The target scenario assumes a similar situation on social indicators and a higher growth rate of differentiation of economic indicators. Having identified trends in the development of differentiation of socio-economic space in the Murmansk Oblast and having forecast the impact of the crisis on the ratio of differentiation parameters we substantiate a comprehensive vision of immediate actions and management perspectives: it is necessary to pursue the regional policy defined by specific objectives of strategic planning in the Murmansk Oblast; to prevent further reduction in the number of medical organizations in the region, to maintain and increase the number of medical personnel in municipalities; to enhance regional measures in the investment sector; to stimulate economic growth in the Kola bearing zone, including the establishment of new legal and regulatory environment. Scientific novelty of the findings consists in the fact that they contribute to the development of theoretical and methodological ideas about the formation of the phenomenon of differentiation of cities and districts in the Arctic region. Our research is different from other works on this topic due to its comprehensiveness and a certain originality in using assessment techniques, which made it possible for the first time to identify specifics and development trends of this phenomenon in the Murmansk Oblast that are relevant for management theory and practice. In view of the above, the findings can be widely used in fundamental and applied science and in territorial management
Keywords
socio-economic development, murmansk oblast, differentiation, cities, districts