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Subject. This article discusses the prospects for the development of the urban environment in Russia. Objectives. The article aims to classify the major cities of Russia by level of economic, spatial, and demographic development. Methods. For the study, we used the methods of systems, comparative, logical, and statistical analyses. Results. The article presents the author-developed methodology for calculating the Urban Success Index. According to the values of the obtained index, all the largest cities of Russia can be divided into five clusters depending on the values of the main demographic and socioeconomic indicators. Conclusions. The Urban Success Index values obtained help note the trend of polarization in the development of the country, when the economy and population get concentrated in the largest cities.