‘As for the introduction of city management in Russia, I can say one of the UK cities has had such an experience, and it did not end very well. The city’s development slowed down considerably; the city manager was in office for four years, struggling with the political leaders and the Parliament’s conflicts all the while. In the end, when the official resigned and a mayor was elected once again, everything went back to normal and the city was flourishing anew,’ Adrian Campbell, a professor from the UK-based University of Birmingham’s School of Public Policy announced at a recent briefing in Yekaterinburg.

‘The prospects of city management look rosy while they are still on paper. In reality, everything turns out to be different; the theoretical model does not work in real life the way it was expected to. An elected mayor is the best option for a city, since people get personally involved in issues related to the city’s prosperity and development. I cannot speak for the whole of Russia, but Germany and the United States’ city management experience had also been bad. Russia is trying to choose the way the West has already given up,’ Professor Campbell said.