Over time, the role of cities as centers of economic, political and cultural life has increased significantly; they are major participants in the globalization process, affect economic growth and state policy. Cities are the main elements in many spheres of public life: they determine the education level and trends; the largest production facilities are placed in them or near them; city dwellers work as managers of different levels and shape state policy. Thus, the issues of urbanization, life

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... nd development of large cities, towns and areas around them are central to the consideration of self-government. Today, effective local governance and, consequently, effective development and promotion of the people's well-being are viewed through the prism of achieving a balance between economic development, environmental protection and social development. Due to high population density, cities possess significant potential for creativity and innovation, energy conservation, environmental friendliness, socio-cultural diversity, etc., so it is the dynamic interaction of these features that drives European development. Setting sustainable development of cities and territories as a goal makes it important to take into account European experience not only in solving the existing problems of their functioning, but also in choosing priorities for the development of modern cities based on innovative approaches and the introduction of "smart" components. The significance of forming the required legal framework for an individual administrative and territorial unit (region, territory, city, community, etc.) to function, and of assessing its state for further use in public management of territorial development, determines the importance of developing and implementing an effective system of legal documents to address socio-economic problems and encourage sustainable regional (territorial) development in Ukraine.