In the post-war period Japanese government was prioritizing economic development above all. Scholars call it ‘rich Japan poor Japanese syndrome’, which was characterised by degraded urban environments, expensive and cramped housing, shortage of public spaces and parks, etc. Although not named the same syndrome could be attributed to Russian cities. Before recent initiatives on improving the quality of life in cities, creating more public spaces or rendering them back to citizens, launching projects aimed at improving liveability and security in cities, the situation was quite similar.

In communist USSR as well as in capitalist Japan approach to urban development was mainly economy oriented. Soviet government saw its cities as hubs for promoting industrial development. This resulted in various problems inherited by Russia, such as mono-cities, extremely polluted and non-liveable cities, etc.

In the same way for a significant period development of Japanese cities followed the construction of roads, JR lines and shinkansens, prioritizing overall economic development over the development of localities.

However, this has changed with machizukuri initiatives of citizens in Japan and volunteer movements in Russia. Local governments stepped aside from mere economic development starting to improve their cities, including liveability, affordability of housing, public spaces, raising the attractiveness of their cities (partly by responding to the demands of creative society and globalization challenges), introducing various concepts starting from garden city up to smart and resilient cities.

Present research follows the path of urban transformations in two countries, triggered by similar challenges of urban development in the past, centralized approach to city development remaining to great extent in present and implementation internationally acknowledged concepts for the future. Therefore, the aim is to analyse the characteristics of these changes, their real drivers, actors involved and their interactions, lessons two countries can learn from each other.