European Capitals in the Postindustrial Dimension

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the analysis of the modern vision of European capitals, presented as an interdisciplinary phenomenon in a number of recent works by Russian and foreign authors. The attention is focused both on external (architecture, complexes of cultural initiatives of different levels) and on the essential parameters of the functioning of capitals (technology, innovation, finance, science, ecology). The purpose of the publication is to identify new trends that characterize the development of European capitals in the information age. It is highlighted that the modern European capital is a city that produces numerous forms of dialogue of its residents, including in the context of the «tradition-modernity» interaction. The classical sociocultural vision of the city is supplemented by the idea of the city as a stable intellectual system. In the reviewed works, the author finds confirmation of her thesis that in the near future the existing polycentricity of European capitals will not only deepen, but also expand due to the functions of peripheral cities in accordance with such classical postulates of postindustrialism as decentralization, deurbanization and demassification.