The thesis is devoted to the philosophical explication of essential features of the European city. The scientific novelty of the obtained results is that in national socio-philosophical thought the European city as a mode of social real life and cultural category embodied in the urban concept and manifested in urban myth shows for the first time. Application of phenomenological, constructivist and synergetic approaches to the study of the urban social space establishing and functioning, in particular the explication of urban concept in the form of urban myth allowed to show the features of the European city as a mode of social reality, provide a philosophical definition of the concepts of "myth of the city" and "idea of the city", show that the myth of the city is a form of existence of the idea of the city. In result European city is interpreted as an implemented system of social real life, which form is translated by the content of the urban concept of Christian origin, the central meanings of which are encoded and transmitted by the urban myth.
It is proved that the European urban concept as a space of social existence being formed around the sacred center and archetypically reproduced in Christian territories, acquires apodictic significance in the structure of meanings of the European social real life, including modern times. It is substantiated that the European city embodies the worldview structure of the Christian and modern thinking and is one of the actualized spaces for complete worldview imperatives implementation of the Christian and modern age.
The thesis shows the ways of transformation of sacred space in a modern city and analyzes the features of the construction of sacred urban spaces and their role for local communities. The thesis analyzes the "work" of the idea of the city. By addressing the narrative of the city – the myth of the city, it is shown how the idea of a city, embodied in a particular city, becomes a form of cultural existence for its inhabitants. The urban myth articulates and implements the cultural urban concept. The urban myth is presented as an actual reality linked to a system of local community (citizens) idea of the city and themselves, encoded by symbolic means in urban narrative and materialized in the urban space; the European urban myth articulates the sacred meanings of the urban concept and the ways for their real existence. It is determined that the myth of the European city articulates the sacred meanings of the idea of the city and the ways of their real existence.
Using Donetsk myth as an example, studied before 2013, it has been shown that its narrative is always built around the sacred meanings of the urban concept, and the transformations of this sacred core associated with ideological shifts (changes in cultural ontology) change the spatial urban structure and affect social existence of the city, having a transformative and mobilizing potential.
In addition, the thesis further developed an understanding of European civilization as urban culture proposed by Fernand Braudel, supplemented by transformation analysis of one of the main cultural values – cultural memory in the modern city. The analysis allowed us to identify new horizons of cultural thinking in understanding the idea of the city, as shown by the example of changing attitudes to cultural heritage in the city depending on how the understanding of cultural heritage at the level of the European community changes.
Study of the current state of urban change, in particular, through analysis of UN (UN-Habitat, World Urban Forum) policy documents on urban development, vectors updated of further urban development.
The practical significance of the results is that the main provisions and conclusions of this thesis paper can be used in modeling social processes and the behavior of citizens. The application of the research results can be useful in the practical implementation of the regional decentralization policy and to help initiate an inter-city dialogue to dispel local stereotypes and reduce social tension.
