Modern methods for studying the territorial differentiation of the urban environment quality: comparative analysis

The importance of researches on intra-urban differentiation is increasing due to the need to develop targeted urban policy measures aimed at reducing the severity of spatial imbalances in the living conditions of the population. The study presents a comparative analysis of the possibilities and limitations of modern methods for studying the territorial differentiation of the urban environment quality. The following key methodological trends are identified: 1) a turn towards detailed research “optics” that allows to highlight the specific characteristics of urban areas in terms of the environment quality and development of its individual components; 2) combining various sources of information with increasing attention to subjective data - residents' assessments; 3) “technification” of the data collection process: the growing demand for automatically generated GIS databases, as well as social network data.