Introduction. Currently, single-industry municipalities (MMOs) that critically depend on one or more city-forming enterprises are facing unprecedented challenges due to structural transformations. Technological shifts, geopolitical turbulence, demographic crisis, digitalization and geo-economic fragmentation increase their vulnerability. Because the existing approaches to managing such territories do not take into account the unstable nature of modern threats and are not aimed at advancing development. In these conditions, there is a need to improve the theoretical foundations and applied methods for assessing the socio-economic sustainability of such territories. There is a growing need for assessment and management methods that take into account the dynamics of modern risks and the need for proactive transformation.
Materials and methods. The authors have developed and tested a methodological approach to assessing the level of socio-economic sustainability of single-industry municipalities, integrating quantitative assessments and qualitative analysis. The research site was 11 single-industry municipalities of the Kirov region. The study period is 2017–2024. The methodology is based on the principles of consistency, specificity, comparability, dynamism, includes an assessment of indicators of social and economic sustainability, conducting semi-structured interviews with representatives of city-forming enterprises.
Results and conclusions. As a result of the study, the unstable dynamics of the indicators of social stability of the MMO of the Kirov region has been established, due to the narrow economic specialization and external challenges. The key problems of the development of these territories are the natural decline and migration outflow of the population, as well as the high differentiation of the growth rates of the territories. The authors have found that, despite the positive average dynamics of economic stability, there is a decrease in the number of employed in the IMO. Despite rising wages, retail trade, and investment, the share of industry and the turnover of MMOs in the region is declining. There is an alignment of territorial differences in infrastructure provision. This reflects the structural restructuring of the economy of single-industry territories, associated with the loss of their former production role.
Discussion. The novelty of the authors’ methodological approach consists in supplementing quantitative assessments with qualitative ones based on semi–structured interviews with representatives of the city-forming enterprises of the Kirov region, which made it possible to identify key opportunities and threats to the economic and social sustainability of the IMO. The interviews confirmed the existence of statistically identified problems, as well as imbalances in infrastructure and investment development. At the same time, despite the lack of formal regulation of the interaction of the IMO authorities and business, their stable partnership in the field of landscaping and organization of social events is noted. It is shown that the key tools for increasing the sustainability of MMOs in the context of structural transformations are institutional support, SME development, and strengthening the adaptability of development strategies.