Discourse on Identity as a Way of Understanding Urban Space. Translation from Russian

The article outlines a set of problems that concern both contemporary philosophy of the city and the study of the semantic space of the urban environment. It synthesizes the diverse intentions of the authors featured in this issue, united by their exploration of specific relationships between processes of identification and the formation of spatial-territorial “fields.” This research perspective directs attention to the urban environment of the 21st century, including the application of methodologies that conceptualize urban space as consisting of “zones of cultural alienation” — zones of restricted access, public access, depressed areas, commercial districts, industrial zones, sites of tourist attraction, sacred places, loci of political power, ruins, museum quarters, residential suburbs, ethnic and social ghettos, marginalized territories, and other geographically isolated spaces — in their correlation with cultural topoi of the city. Contemporary meta-cities, as vast public spaces, necessitate a discourse on identity and the identification of place within the framework of the Philosophy of the City. This includes examining not only the interaction between humans and material objects, but also their engagement with networks and agents of social reality. The “reassembly” of urban spaces, as interpreted through actor-network theory, is understood as a process of rethinking questions related to urban identities. The contributors to this issue — focused on the boundaries of identity and spatial borders within the city — investigate cultural and social practices that transform territorial barriers, dissolve the old, and facilitate the emergence of new ones. A connection is traced between this contemporary phenomenon and the historical processes that preceded it, with examples drawn from engagements with past experiences. Among the approaches presented are studies in literary and artistic topologies, where quests for identity unfold through the construction or negotiation of boundaries. The issue also explores pathways of cultural self-identification, including those shaped through language and liminal zones of linguistic culture