CURRENT PROBLEMS IN THE HISTORY OF THE CITIES OF THE SOUTHERN URALS AND WESTERN SIBERIA AS ONE OF THE PRIORITY DIRECTIONS OF SCIENTIFIC-RESEARCH WORK AT THE BASHKIR STATE UNIVERSITY
The contribution of the Department of historiography and source studies of the Bashkir state University in the development of the domestic city science is discussed in the article. The authors summarize the results of the organization of research work of the Department over the seventeen-year period of work. A detailed analysis of the various approaches to the study of the problems of the city from the review of the concept of “city” and “city-fortress”, their fortification features, the role of cities-fortresses, border lines in the development of new territories of the Russian state in 16th-18th centuries, to urban issues, governance and socio-economic aspects of urban development, is given. In particular, the attention of scientists of Bashkir State University was aimed at studying the peculiarities of the process of city planning in the southern Urals and Western Siberia in 16th-18th centuries, socio-cultural interaction of Russian cities with a foreign-language community. Studies have reflected the socio-economic development of the cities of the southern Urals in 19th century, a controversial process of population formation, and the involvement of the cities of the southern Urals in the area of trade and industrial activities. Another aspect of the history of Russian cities, the impact of modernization, socio-economic reforms on the growth and development of the provincial centers and small towns was also analyzed. The authors note that the city in the 20th century becomes the object of study not only by history, but also by sociology, philosophy, economics, cultural studies and other Sciences. At the present stage of development of society, they put forward new challenges of studying the problem of the city: problems of functioning and self-government reform. The issues of finding new forms of organization of research work at the Department are put forward.