Anthropological measurement of modern city space

Abstract

Introduction: the relevance of the urban studies is determined by the role which this form of settlement plays at the present stage of development of civilization. The specificity of the change of the city since the modern era is the dynamism, multidirectional and diverse processes of urban life. Interdisciplinary studies emerging at the intersection of sociology, political science, anthropology, philosophy and economics are becoming prospective. On the one hand this article raises the problem of the influence of urban space on the life of society, and on the other hand, it analyses the requirements that residents of the city make to the way of the organization of their existence in the urban environment. Materials and methods: the theory of biopower by M. Foucault and his followers is the main frame of analysis' of transformation of modern urban space. This method allows us to research not only the mechanism of micropower but also political strategies of people management. In terms of this concept, the main concept is the body: the human body, the collective social body and the body of the city. The theory is illustrated by examples of Russian and foreign cities and also by results of sociology research of “individual happiness” of citizens on the example of Nizhny Novgorod. Results: there are the hypotheses about transformation of modern big city by project of power in the article. The goal of this project of power is optimization of people management that means achievement the maximum of safety and transparency of urban space. However, new architectural solutions are not always felt by citizens as comfortable and existentially safe. As a result, we have the tactics of resistance to power decisions from below. Russian reality is analyzed as specific one, but there is an assumption that large Russian cities tend to fit into the described way of development. The authors make an attempt to consider as one of the parties in the process of initiating changes the very matter of the city. Discussion and conclusions: this research allows to describe the main trend in transformation of big cities in Russia and the world and to show the main points of “care” in transformation of city spaces. It also allows us to describe the whole complex of issues related to including a person in the collective social body of modern megapolis.