In single-industry cities, the livelihoods of the bulk of the population directly depend on the functioning of one large enterprise. This dependence often leads to a negative change in the standard of living of people due to instability in the work of the city-forming enterprise. Residents of single-industry towns are unable to compensate for the consequences of the economic crisis on their own.
Single-industry settlements arose in the era of Peter I. And some researchers argue that single-industry towns belong to an even earlier period. Such settlements have become typical in the industrial stage of development in many countries.
In Russia, the emergence of single-industry towns was especially large-scale due to the Soviet planned economy. A blow to the well-being of the inhabitants of the "city-plants" was dealt during the period of privatization. What had been produced for years at large enterprises of the Union suddenly became unnecessary and superfluous in democratic Russia, orders stopped. Hundreds of thousands of workers were left out of business.
Most single-industry towns turned out to be depressed zones, their residents began to leave their homes and moved to work in more prosperous regions.
According to the latest data from the Expert Institute, about eight hundred settlements can be attributed to single-industry towns in Russia; about 25 million people live in them.
A “city-plant” can be recognized by two signs. The first is that the share of workers in one enterprise of people is at least 25 percent of the total population of the city. The second - the volume of production of the city-forming enterprise is at least 50 percent of the total share of the production of the settlement.
The Russian government has drawn up detailed passports for single-industry settlements, they include more than two hundred indicators. The Ministry of Regional Development identified four categories of single-industry towns according to the degree of depression.
First category: the economic crisis has affected these settlements, but the situation in them remains stable. The state of affairs in these "factory cities" will be closely monitored in order to react in time when resources are exhausted.
The second category: temporary difficulties arose at the city-forming enterprise, which are associated with the crisis. The Ministry of Regional Development includes enterprises of the automotive industry here, work with these plants has already begun.
The third category: the city-forming enterprise has serious problems, low labor productivity. Here we need serious support from the state, attraction of loans, so that the plant will again enter the market and develop.
Fourth category: modernization of production will not solve the problem of the main enterprise. The state, together with the owner, will make a decision on re-profiling. If there is no other way out, residents will be relocated to other cities.