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The article deals with topical issues of the development of small cities in Central Russia. The focus is on the spatial growth of small cities and the factors that determine the process. Examples of the spatial development of expanding and shrinking cities are discussed separately. All spatial growth factors were divided into two large groups, i.e. endogenous and exogenous. In the first case, the principal growth factor is the local population, whose efforts expand the urban space. In the second case, the external forces are of key importance, generally the decisions of higher authorities or the activities of large developers. The spatial expansion is quite logical for the growing cities. Most of them are located in the suburbs of regional centers, resulting in the peculiarities of their development due to construction of new multistorey housing complexes, cottage settlements and townhouse complexes. Interestingly, the spatial growth is characteristic of declining cities as well. Moreover, the factors of their spatial growth are more diverse. Therefore, subgroups were distinguished in each group of factors depending on additional causes and agents of change. The endogenous causes of growth include the construction of new housing for the well-off segments of the population, the construction of new social housing, the construction of new housing for the military and the employees of large industrial enterprises, etc. Administrative incorporations of nearby settlements (villages, station settlements, military towns) and the activities of external developers are among the exogenous factors. The study showed that many small towns expand their space under the influence of various factors, this leads to the complication of their urban structure.