The article considers the spaces of city festivals, their research as a special form of the “site” identity manifestation, a way to make the urban realm more comfortable and a component of territorial branding and development driver. Today a festival involvement into the system of territorial development and using it as the means of building a positive reputation for the site and increasing its investment attractiveness is relevant and explained, among other things, by common interest in the formation of the quality environment in Russian cities and the competition in the promotion of territorial vital priorities. The paper includes the analysis of traditional festivals as the basis of a modern urban life and culture, on the one hand; the actual trends of existing of the city festive culture as a component of urban daily living activities, development and branding space, on the other hand. It also stipulates for the identification of the image function of modern festivals for territories. It is important to address the festival as a form of the interpretation of traditions and immersion into the “site” culture, a means for improving the quality of life in the environment. The paper puts a special emphasis on the importance of the festive living space in a city as a space integrating traditions, popular trends and commercial interests (including touristic business interests).

When it comes to advancing the higher education system, the Government’s priority is to create a state-of-the-art university environment with a one-of-a-kind innovation space. This paper analyzes the core factors behind this process: the specifics of the University’s life in the era of new technology; interpretation of the learning environment and its spatial organization as part of the University’s image; presenting the Campus as a progressive approach to embedding the University in the real world of today and its problems, as part of the University’s identity. The University herein means Irkutsk National Research Technical University, or INRTU. An important feature of this paper is that it addresses INRTU’s existence in the modern learning space as the learning environment is increasingly digitalized and the University needs to reorganize its environment to improve its quality, architectural and artistic value and significance. The author’s R&D efforts breathe new life into INRTU’s facilities to make them good for studies and research and suitable for commercial and cultural initiatives taken in the university environment; these efforts include creating a special entrance design for better image, designing innovative technology parks and communication spaces (coworking and creativity areas).

The article is dedicated to the research of the co-working phenomenon presenting a new type of the object, new type of the form of the city and society qualitative life. Having quite a broad geography, functional variety, variety of city-planning situations, a wide range of space-planning and descriptive solutions, co-working is interpreted as a specific “third place”, educational space, a new type of an efficient production facility as well as a new integral environment corresponding to the lifestyle of modern digital nomads. An active development of educational functions makes co-working an integral part of educational institutions. The paper proposes a concept for forming the cluster “IRNITU Co-working” serving as a means for gentrification of the Campus territory, new form of the “third place” of a modern university, image space and educational hub; discusses the results of the use of IRNITU co-working.

The paper is devoted to the study of urban identity and image-design as unique resources of the quality of environment, and actual means of increasing competitive advantages of the city and its investment attractiveness. The work includes identification of criteria of the qualities of environment, and peculiarities of the Russian comfort urban environment programs, analysis of specifics of regional identity and possibilities of design in the formation of creative authentic environment of the cities, as well as elaboration of the initiative projects for the city, regional images and codes of environment, forms of urban development and the author design. The project works of the "Irkutsk trade axis" / "Irkutsk quarters” not only create comfortable environment but suggest a concept of transformation of these territories into investment attractive “places”, combining possible commercial profit with the needs of the city and tasks of the modern life in the unique milieu of the historical city.

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