Memorial practices and public space: state memory policy and images of the past in multiethnic urban centers

This article examines memorial practices in the context of shaping and transforming the public space of multiethnic urban centers. Special attention is paid to state memory policy, which relies on monumental symbols, museums, commemorative plaques, and toponymy. The study analyzes the role of these practices in the formation of national identity and collective memory, while also highlighting their ambiguous reception by various ethnocultural groups. Under conditions of globalization and migration, the multiethnic city becomes an arena for competing historical narratives, reflecting different versions of the past. Drawing on a comparative-historical and interdisciplinary approach, as well as sociological, cultural, and historical research, the article provides theoretical frameworks for understanding how state memory policy can both strengthen a shared civic identity and generate new fault lines of tension within urban space.