DOI: 10.7256/2310-8673.2014.4.13637

Abstract: Forming a cultural image of the two Russian capitals is a recent and important challenge. Historical collisions that resulted in Moscow and St. Petersburg being brought apart were the basis for the forming of two major paradigms in history, which reflected the complexity and ambiguity of Russia's path in history. This is why we see a dichotomy in the image of the two capitals in A.I. Solzhenitsyn’s creative work, as well as its emerging depth and dialectic nature. Nostalgic images of pre-Revolution Moscow, as evident on the pages of the "Red Wheel" are replaced by political metaphor which became the main stylistic technique of works devoted to Stalin-era Russia. The main method of this research is the analysis of text meaning from the perspective of social and cultural context. The author explores an area that few ever touched upon, as far as A.I. Solzhenitsyn’s work is concerned, as he analyzes the cities not as mere historical setting, but rather as full actors on the stage of the great author's books. A city is presented as a collective actor, an animate being which actively impacts the lives of the main characters.

DOI: 10.7256/2310-8673.2014.3.13423

Abstract: The Moscow superregion (Moscow and Moscow region) boasts fairly stable birth rates, especially in comparison with other Russian regions. However, this involves the necessity for solving such social problems as creating comfortable environment for children and their parents, including pre-school facilities, playgrounds, etc. Properly organized architectural environment is paramount to children's socialization. However, the steps taken are not yet enough to solve this problem. Basing on publicism and polling, this article studies the problem of social space for the young urban dwellers. To overcome the demographic lapse, urban planning that takes into account the comfort of children and young parents becomes highly necessary. At the same time, organization of space for children and teenagers results in local conflicts, based on clashing interests of different social groups in modern cities.

DOI: 10.7256/2310-8673.2014.2.13352

Abstract: The problem of creating a clean, biosphere-compatible urban environment is currently one of the major issues for our society. Its importance is dictated by the multivectoral nature of modern megapolys development, which, in turn, becomes a stimulus for a transition from a technocratic model of urban planning to a biosphere-compatible one. However, the results of the current urban planning process appears ambiguous: by limiting industry development in some cases, the urban planners make other, no less serious problems, even worse. Because of this, the author believes that it is necessary to analyze the current situation in cities, to analyze the dynamics of environmentalist movements that are currently fashionable due to the modern social and political paradigms, to evaluate their potential good and harm. Case study is the main method of analysis in this work. The cases are analyzed for modern ecourban trends, deindustrialization, advertisement business regulations, ecologization, comprehensive planning, legal regulation of nuclear industry, interactions between environment movements and business. This work also employs traditional general scientific methods of inductive generalization of facts and deductive application of the generalizations generated, for the sake of identifying patterns in the dynamics of urban life. The author draws attention to the inconsistency of statements issued in the architecture and environment planning of modern cities, to the crises that we need to overcome for the sake of our civilization. The author points out the dysfunction of modern environmentalist movements - they are too political. And it becomes a reason for conflict situations and interferes with constructive dialog between the civil society and the Federal and municipal authorities (Selyatin and Khimki forest protection movements come to mind).