Uniqueness of the city in philosophical and cultural discourse

The article presents an attempt to consider the uniqueness of the city as an independent subject of philosophical and cultural analysis. The reasons for preventing the entry of this subject into the subject field of both domestic and foreign urban humanities are indicated. The research framework for exploring the city as a unique phenomenon is outlined. The possibilities and limitations of various tools (text, image, style, chronotope) are shown, allowing to analyze the diversity of Russian cities. Particular attention is paid to the chronotope and its heuristic capabilities in solving problems due to the considered research optics.