The article focuses on the importance of objectivesetting in the development (updating) of the strategy of socioeconomic development of the territory. The stage of objectivesetting in the strategic planning documents of megacities of the Russian Federation as typical new industrial cities is analyzed. A hypothesis was put forward and confirmed that there is a relationship between the quality of objective-setting and socioeconomic development, the competitiveness of the city. The recommendations for improving the objective-setting in the process of developing (updating) the strategy of socioeconomic development of the territory, including new industrial city, have been developed and proposed. The methodological basis of the study is based on the theoretical concepts of strategic management, regional and spatial economics. This study of the objective-setting in the largest cities of the Russian Federation is based on a comprehensive (comprehensive) analysis of social and economic development strategies through the use of a combination of methods: logical, dialectical, cause-and-effect, statistical, etc. This article may be useful to university students, graduate students, research scientists, professionals involved in the development (updating) of the socioeconomic development strategies of territories, state and municipal employees, as well as other interested parties.