The “innovative development” of cities has become a priority for the development of the digital economy in the world, which is widely reflected in the official documents of leading international organizations (UN, OECD, European Commission), as well as in scientific research by foreign scientists (Web of Science, Scopus). The article analyzes the problems of teaching trends in innovative development of cities in geographical education. Teaching the geography of cities is closely related to such disciplines as social and economic geography of the World, Economic Geography of Kazakhstan. Therefore, the analysis of trends in the development of cities of the world and the country, the differentiation of the state of the process of urbanization and the inclusion of the main positions in the content of education are among the topical issues of geographical education. In this regard, it is becoming increasingly important to study the trends of innovative development of cities in Kazakhstan, which have become the largest production centers of the country, where the centers of education, culture, a set of natural resources and production facilities are concentrated, which served as the basis for writing our article. Purpose of the article: theoretical justification of teaching trends in innovative development of Kazakhstan's cities and the development of its teaching methodology in geography. The role and place of studying cities in geographical education has been determined. The study reviewed the theory of innovative urban development, analysis of experience and samples of innovative development of the city was carried out. Based on the data obtained, the program of the elective course "geography of cities" for students of the 9th grade is compiled. The elective course, written on the example of Almaty, is planned to be conducted for 34 hours, 1 time per week. The content of the discipline consists of 5 blocks: the history of the city, natural conditions and resources, socio-cultural life, economic situation and directions of development of world cities.

В данной статье были проанализированы проблемы устойчивого развития малых городов с точки зрения историко-географических факторов. В ходе анализа мы убедились, что монопрофильные города, относящиеся к группе малых городов, стали «центром» проблем в мире и стране. Проведен теоретико-концептуальный анализ сложившихся представлений, названий, мнений и выводов ученых относительно этих городов, связанных с мировой индустриализацией. На основе опыта стран: США, Канады, Австралии, Японии, Германии и др. были определены основные механизмы реабилитации и поддержки трудовых ресурсов в монопрофильных городах в условиях кризиса. А в условиях нашей страны мы рассматривали на примере малых городов Жамбылской области. По нему была разработана классификация общих проблем, ограничивающих устойчивое развитие, с упором на исторические аспекты специализации малых городов. На основе исторических данных и теоретических выводов проанализированы демографические проблемы городов и определено место инновационного городского развития на стратегическом этапе. Согласно концепции устойчивого развития, были выбраны основные области развития городской среды, уделяя особое внимание их социальному, экономическому и экологическому влиянию. В целом результаты исследования в статье будут дополнять исследования по географии городов.

Introduction: Rapid urbanization, digitalization, and sustainability challenges require school geography to move beyond descriptive approaches toward analytical, technology-supported learning about urban systems. This study developed and evaluated a methodological framework for integrating smart and sustainable city concepts into secondary school geography through a place-based elective course focused on Almaty, Kazakhstan. Methods: The framework was implemented in a 34-hour ninth-grade elective course, Geography of Cities: Almaty, combining a content-structural model, local case studies, authentic urban datasets, Google Earth materials, and mobile learning activities delivered through the Bilim All application. A quasi-experimental design compared experimental and control groups. Data were collected using a baseline diagnostic test, a post-intervention achievement assessment, student questionnaires, and classroom observations. Between-group differences were examined using the Mann–Whitney U test. Results: The experimental group achieved higher post-intervention scores than the control group across all seven assessed content areas. Statistically significant differences were found in each area, with the largest gaps in demography and urbanization, settlement classification, and functional zoning. Functional zoning and urban functions nevertheless remained comparatively challenging, indicating persistent difficulties with applied map-based and data-based reasoning. Discussion: The findings support the value of a technology-supported, place-based framework for urban geography education and provide practical guidance for integrating local data, digital tools, and urban case analysis into school curricula. Because intact classes and non-random group assignment were used, the results indicate a significant association with improved learning outcomes rather than definitive causal effectiveness.

Achieving sustainable development of small towns as a special system is directly related, first of all, to maintaining socio-economic stability and creating a favourable environment for human life. Indeed, as a basis for the sustainability of small towns, the development of services, effective utilisation of local characteristics and diversification of socio-economic spheres are very important. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to assess the possibilities of socio-economic sustainable development of small towns in Zhambyl region. The study consisted of two stages: at the first stage a systematic analysis of statistical indicators of socio-economic development of Zhambyl region was conducted, the dynamics of sustainable development was assessed, at the second stage a survey was conducted and the information necessary for analysis was collected. The survey was conducted in the cities of Zhanatas, Karatau and Shu, which have the status of small towns in Zhambyl region. As a result of the survey, positive dynamics was noted for all indicators of socio-economic development of Zhambyl region. The volume of production in the region's manufacturing industry totalled 521.7 billion tenge, with a physical volume index of 111.1% compared to 2022. At the same time, the production of food products increased by 17.8%, chemical industry - by 5.5%, oil products - by 19.6%, finished metal products - by 31.9%, machine building - by 7.7%. However, according to the results of a survey conducted in the small towns of Zhanatas, Karatau and Shu, it became known that 31 per cent of respondents earn within 100-200 thousand tenge and 28 per cent within 60-100 thousand tenge. In addition, 66% of residents of small towns ask to increase the number of new jobs. Thus, the study revealed the need to modernise the socio-economic plan for sustainable development of small towns in Zhambyl region, the need to diversify the economy and improve the effective use of the environment.

This article presents a theoretical review of international experience in the use of digital tools for teaching innovative urban development in secondary school geography. The relevance of the study is determined by increasing urbanization, the expansion of the smart city concept, the growing significance of sustainable development goals, and the need to develop students’ spatial thinking, digital literacy, and civic competencies in the study of urban topics. The study was designed as a descriptive and analytical theoretical investigation based on a structured review of peer reviewed publications indexed in Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC, and Google Scholar. The review made it possible to identify the main groups of digital tools used in teaching urban topics, including online maps and WebGIS, open urban data resources, urban simulators, mobile AR/VR tools, educational platforms, and citizen science applications. On this basis, the article proposes a typology of digital tools according to their functional and didactic characteristics and formulates the main methodological principles for teaching innovative urban development in school geography. In the context of Kazakhstan, national platforms such as BilimAll and BilimLand are considered as potential digital environments for adapting international pedagogical experience to the local curriculum. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the pedagogical systematization of digital tools for teaching innovative urban development and in the development of a conceptual basis for their integration into school geography. Keywords: school geography, innovative urban planning, digital tools, WebGIS, AR/VR, spatial citizenship, BilimAll.