Mythology of location and choice of development strategy for small cities

The article is devoted to the authors’ research results for the structure of modern mythology concentrated for urban space, as one of the foundations of urban territorial marketing. The components of the urban myth influencing the formation of urban identity were analyzed. The authors offer the concepts of "old" and "new", formed in the era of postmodernism, urban myths. The components of the "old" myth are stories about the origin / foundation of the city, its heroes, information about the historical past of the city, its sacred places. It contains all the traditional features that form the basis of the classical myth - there is the center of the world, heroes, the paths they choose, the path of the city itself, and the magical transformation that it experiences in the middle of the path. The “new” myth is characteristic, first of all, of megalopolises and is formed largely due to the growing dominance of the information society, the collapse of traditional state and public entities, the emergence of fundamentally new channels and media, the final victory of mass culture and the fantastic growth of the scale of human manipulation. The article provides an explanation of the causes of conflicts in small towns that have arisen in recent years, in which the authors' research was carried out, investigates the influence of architecture and urban planning solutions, landscaping on wave changes in tourist flows. The figurative system is shown that arises in the perception of the mythology of small towns both on the part of visitors (tourists, excursionists, investors) and on the part of urban communities. Explains the choice of strategies for the development of a small town, facing the city administrations today. Various approaches to the study of modern mythology, the role of new media in the consolidation of urban mythology and its replication are analyzed.