Аннотация:Goal. The aim of this research is to investigate how the phenomenon of shrinkage is understood in the most affectedareas, such as mining cities, so-called one company towns, in Southern Russia and what kind of responses addressing the issue have been developed in special programs, strategic plans and plans of territorial development.
Methods. For the analysis of demographic trends in Southern Russia the data from the Federal Statistic Service was used:the results of the three censuses of 1989, 2002 and 2010, but also the annual statistic. The data on economic development was analyzed through the indicators presented in the statistical database, in programming documents and media sources. Federal, regional and municipal programs related to demographic and economic decline, as well as strategic and territorial plans of the Rostov region and municipality, were analyzed in order to find special responses to the shrinkage issue.
Results. The research has shown the stability of depopulation trends in the municipality of Zverevo and Rostov region,the lack of awareness of causes and consequences of urban shrinkage among policy makers and planners and, accordingly, the absence or inadequacy of the responses to the shrinkage challenge in the strategic documents.
Scientific novelty. The scientific novelty of the paper is in the results obtained through a framework of content anal-ysis of municipal and regional strategic documents developed for the municipality of Zverevo in terms of consideration of the shrinkage issue. The research aimed to verify the intention to develop the planning documents according to a par-adigm of growth despite the actual population and economic decline.