This issue is dedicated to the topic of standardization and norms in the urban environment and urban planning. In recent years, the history of standardization in architecture and urban planning has been increasingly discussed in the academic environment and has become part of the curriculum for architects and urbanists. This issue includes articles on the theory, history, and practice of normalization in the post-Soviet space.

В номере на примере Москвы освещаются экологические аспекты: загрязнение окружающей среды автотранспортом, микробиологическое состояние воздуха в общественном транспорте, эмиссия парниковых газов городскими почвами и грунтами, качество воды Москвы-реки. Авторы статей попытались «перебросить мостик» от результатов экологических исследований к практическим рекомендациям, которые можно использовать в градостроительной деятельности. Мы также публикуем в настоящем номере статью иностранных коллег об опыте устойчивого планирования городского пространства в Австрии, учитывающем экологические принципы.

In Memory of Leonid Smirnyagin

"I have nothing to say, but have something to add»

It’s significant that one of the first issues of this newly born journal on urban studies is devoted to migration. Indeed, it’s a commonplace notion that cities have been formed due to migration, and as a result, the first studied form of migration was mobility between rural and urban areas. Even now, we rarely speak of migration in contexts apart from the city — and we rarely speak of global cities without mentioning migration. The tight bond between migration and the city has largely remained in the background, however, and knowledge about it has been fragmentary and dispersed across disciplines. The goal of this special issue of Urban Studies and Practices is ambitious, as it aims to build bridges between these “isles of knowledge” — researchers from multiple disciplines, working in different countries, as well as practitioners.

Anna Rocheva and Evgeni Varshaver

In Memory of Alexander Vysokovsky