This paper examines the dynamics of public art in Russia, explores specific features of the phenomenon that distinguish it from other new art forms and genres. The authors focus on the historical and cultural aspects of the interaction between Russian artists and urban space, their fruitful communication strategies and successful projects of service, art, PR communications reflecting the communicative behaviour of the artist-viewer-power in the modern information-saturated urban environment of Russia, new turns of instrumental development of territories, conceptual shifts of public art caused by including the impact of digital transformations on the culture of the city. A review of various foreign and domestic studies provides a retrospective look at the interpretation of public art as a creative process, a system of communicative interaction and changes in urban space, and, at the same time, the harmonization of the environment and the person, creative understanding of the involvement of the individual to his place of residence with its cultural codes and meanings. This paper will broadly trace the evolution of public art in Russia and its current scope that was enhanced by the sharp increase of the curatorial projects that deal with public art. On the one hand, the demand for public art in Russia is exacerbated by the growing number of curatorial projects aimed at working with space and environment in the context of the festival and biennial movement and art residencies, and on the other hand, the increased interest of the municipal and government officials in public art as a driving force for territory and urban development. The article provides a comparative analysis of successfully implemented projects in various regions of Russia, which gave a new impetus to the development of public art, bringing the space closer to the population, expanding the communicative capabilities of a smart city and its creative resident.