Youth in search of urban identity: levels and indicators

The paper examines the phenomenon of urban identity on the basis of a pilot study that targeted Yekaterinburg's student youth (n = 20). Based on the results of the semi-formalized interviews, it can be summarized that urban identity is understood by the youth generation through the prism of identification with the area of residence and population. Moreover, it is given an emotional intensity by attributing to the city characteristics peculiar to the individual. Architectural and personalized markers-indicators that are meaningful points of awareness of the youth generation of the urban identity are highlighted. It is observed the event marker emerging as a source of urban identity formation. The levels of urban identity are defined: value-semantic and practice-oriented, which can be included as reference constructs for determining the directions of urban policy in the sphere of urban identity assertion.