Rating assessments of municipalities: their role in strategic planning and applied aspects of use

Background. Rating‑based assessments are increasingly employed in strategies for the socio‑economic and sustainable development of municipalities; however, in many cases their use remains fragmented and unsystematic. Ratings are often incorporated into strategic planning documents without being linked to elements of goal‑setting — namely objectives, tasks, and systems of indicators — which significantly diminishes their analytical and practical value. At the same time, validated rating‑based assessments are capable of making a substantial contribution to the justification and evaluation of the implementation of priority areas of municipal socio‑economic development. In this regard, the integration of rating‑based assessments into municipal development strategies requires special attention. Purpose. To identify the role of rating‑based assessments within the system of strategic goal‑setting of municipalities and to reveal the applied aspects of their use in the strategic planning process. Materials and methods. The study employs classification methods, content analysis, and comparative, economic‑legal, and logical analysis. The empirical base includes regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation, municipal development strategies, data from official websites of public authorities and rating agencies, as well as academic publications and analytical reports. Results. The study demonstrates that, in municipal strategic practice, rating‑based assessments are most often used to provide a general characterization of the socio‑economic condition of a territory and perform primarily a reference or declarative function, without subsequent integration into the system of strategic goal setting. A classification of rating systems was developed based on the degree of their formalization in strategic planning documents and their functional role at different stages of the strategic cycle. This classification served as the basis for an algorithm for converting rating‑based assessments into a system of strategic goal setting at the municipal level. The proposed algorithm enables the practical implementation of rating‑based assessments as a decision‑support tool and contributes to improving the effectiveness of socio‑economic development strategy implementation. Practical implications. The findings may be used by local self‑government bodies and organizations involved in the development, revision, and updating of municipal strategic planning documents.