Home – Home – Jornals – Region: Economics and Sociology 2026 number 2

The search for models of long-term territorial sustainability outside of orthodox economic theory necessitates a rethinking of the reproduction process at the municipal level and the development of alternative indicators of economic progress. The construct of “economic well-being" is considered as such an indicator; it represents an economically secure state of material and non-material provision in the territory of local self-government, formed on the basis of a sustainable, spatially inclusive, planned, individualized, and conscious reproductive process. The article aims to develop a methodology for studying the economic well-being of a municipality as a promising indicator for measuring economic progress at the municipal level and as a result of responsible development. This methodological approach to studying the economic well-being of a municipality proposes combining elements of two methodologies: the spatio-temporal and the ethical-philosophical. The use of the spatio-temporal methodology allows us to view a municipality as a space for the creation, use, and reproduction of the human life support system, the parameters of which provide a basis for classifying municipalities and accounting for spatial risks and favorable factors in the assessment of economic well-being. The contribution of the ethical-philosophical methodological approach to the methodology under development lies in emphasizing the subjectivity and autonomy of the municipality, which are expressed in the financial security of local self-government, the implementation of the principle of accountability in municipal governance, as well as in expanding citizens ’ opportunities to participate in shaping and sustaining the economic well-being of the local self-government territory.