The Role of Local Communities in Improving Utility Services and Urban Development

This article summarizes the results of quantitative and qualitative studies dedicated to the role played by local communities in urban development. The author underlines a number of factors boosting the performance of grassroots unions that have been formed to deal with various local issues. These factors include: active civic involvement, rational information management, referrals to legislation, and the use of both official and unofficial means of influencing the authorities and individual policy enforcers. The study highlights that the lack of equality between the grassroots and government officials, low community awareness, and low involvement of competent experts in policy-making and implementing decisions undermines the productivity of such unions’ efforts. The research results presented herein may be used for further insight into the topic, as well as for dealing with the practical challenges of urban sociology. The study’s conclusions have already become the basis of a new sociological project, focusing on the connection between living conditions and civic involvement in provincial areas in Russia. What is more, our deductions and findings are also widely used for resolving practical issues, for instance for giving interested parties consultations on lowering social tension while carrying out urban planning and development