IMAGES OF THE URBAN IDENTITY OF THE REPUBLIC’s CAPITAL CITY IN THE STRUCTURE OF RUSSIAN FEDERATION (THE CASE OF SARANSK)

The article based on the data of qualitative and quantitative res earch undertaken by the authors in the capital of the Republic of Mordovia - Saransk, identifies and analyzes the symbolic components of the social identity of the population of the administrative center of the repub lic in structure of the Russian Federation - the images of a capital city on the example of Saransk. There are such levels of metropolitan identity as the level of representations (ideas about the territoriality of the city as a "space of belonging" and its visual images) and the level of social practices, including a set of ideas, assessments and attitudes for the use (individual and shared with other citizens) of urban social sp ace in those spheres of activity and in those territories that are the residence of individuals and groups of the urban population (for example, in certain urban areas). The "representative" components of the identity of citi zens include integral visual images of the city, artistic and architectural sights that perform the fu nctions of "places of memory" and asso ciated performative rituals, traditional "folk" toponyms in the "mental maps" of citizens. The level of representations, as more superficial, is most likely a product of urban and regional symbolic identity politics, while the formation of metropolitan identity at the level of social practices depends on the results of urban development and the degree of participation in it of individuals and population groups that are subjects of urban identity. The soci al construction and transformation of the "practical" level of the capital's identity are mediated by the satisfaction of the population of the capital with the state of the urban environment as a means of meeting various needs, as well as the personal experience of citizen s, in particular, the experience of staying in larger cities, acting as a comparison criterion. Such experience creates limitations to the influence of republican symbolic politics, giving grounds for assessing the status of Saransk as a peripheral city and becomes the basis for a critical assessment of the authorities' activities in th e development of the capital city and the very concept of the capital's identity.