Strategic planning of socio-economic development of territorial communities as a component of state economic policy

Abstract

The article analyses the integration of strategic planning for socio-economic development of territorial communities into the system of state economic policy in Ukraine. The conceptual foundations of local strategic planning are defined, and the evolution of approaches from directive to participatory is traced. Adjacent categories are delineated: strategic planning, forecasting, and programming; socio-economic development and economic growth; territorial community and administrative-territorial unit. The three-tier normative-institutional architecture of the ‘state – region – community’ nexus is examined, revealing that vertical coherence of strategies is predominantly unidirectional and declarative, lacking effective feedback mechanisms. The methodological toolkit for community strategy development is assessed: despite 91 % quantitative coverage, strategy quality remains problematic – a significant proportion are formal documents without a causal link to budgetary decisions. A comparative analysis with foreign models of integrating local planning into national economic policy is conducted: EU Cohesion Policy, the Polish practice of mandatory gmina strategies, and OECD place-based policy approaches. The specifics of strategic planning during wartime and post-war recovery are determined, including the role of the DREAM platform and the Ukraine Facility instrument. The authors propose an optimal model for integrating community strategic planning into state economic policy, which envisages adoption of a comprehensive strategic planning law, strengthening conditionality through reform of the State Fund for Regional Development, and institutionalising municipal representation in coordination bodies.