The topic of this volume is a result from The Contemporary City in Serbia and Bulgaria: Processes and Changes, a bilateral project of the Institute of Ethnography of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (2014-2016). The six papers offer a comparative view of current social processes in two neighbouring Balkan countries, linked by numerous historical and political experiences. Comparative research into societal trends enables a more thorough understanding and monitoring of global processes. In today’s increasingly globalised and glocalised world, towns experience sudden changes and it is in the towns that these changes are most vividly to be seen. The focus of our research is on the dynamism of the contemporary town, on processuality and changes in societal practices. Ana Luleva examines life in the small town of Nessebar in southeast Bulgaria, which has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1983. The protection, management and presentation of Nessebar’s cultural heritage are highly complex issues, further complicated by the problem of collision with the interests of the inhabitants. The author analyses the relations between the various factors - the state administration, municipal authorities and the local population. Here the tourist industry, investment interests, corrupt institutions and civil society all play their part. Ivanka Petrova chose to research Belogradchik, a small town in northwest Bulgaria. Petrova investigates how local social and cultural resources are used in the work of a family tourist enterprise. The author looks for answers to questions such as: how its members identify with the town and its culture and how the work of the enterprise fits into the Belogradchik local context. At the focus of her paper are current societal practices: the local urban economy and the production of images and symbols. Milena Benovska Sabkova’s article analyses the identification processes of Bulgarian Muslims (Pomaks) in the small border town of Zlatograd in the far south of Bulgaria. The author points out the fluidity of ethnic and religious Muslim/ Christian boundaries and how Bulgarian Muslims overcome them. The Christian identity is perceived as being more prestigious in the existing ethnic and religious classification. The paper focuses on many current problems of cultural heritage, such as the opening of an open-air ethnographic complex, and identification in frontier zones. Ljiljana Gavrilovic takes a broadly interpretative look at the problems of recognising and protecting the intangible cultural heritage of a town. The author gives a critical review of practice hitherto in implementing the Convention for Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (primarily based on the preservation of pre-modern elements), with a view to examining possibilities for a broader framework for the Convention as it applies to urban heritage. Sonja Petrovic examines selected fragments from the autobiographic memories of Djordje Trifunovic (born 1934), a professor at the Philological Faculty of Belgrade University. The paper draws a picture of how Belgrade grew from a small to a large city, depicting in vivid colour relations between the centre and the outskirts, place and space, freedom of movement and daily life. A view of the provincial border-town of Zajecar completes the contribution. Dejan Krstic examines current social and political processes in a small town in eastern Serbia, near the border with Bulgaria: a difficult economic situation, high unemployment, inadequate and corrupt local administration, depopulation and the specific features of identification in a peripheral area, but also the significant tourist potential the town possesses. In many aspects, Krstic’s work dovetails with articles by the Bulgarian authors. We hope that these papers will provide an opportunity for fresh, creative, dynamic reflection and writing on the town from aspects such as the urban heritage, identification processes in urban border areas, the importance of life histories, the exciting game of global vs. local, etc. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177027: Multietnicitet, multikulturalnost, migracije-savremeni procesi]