Abstract: The subject under research is the dynamics of modern urban studies which origin goes back to ancient times. The uprise of urban studies falls on the XXth - XXIst centuries. To perform urban researches today, it is neccesary to choose adequate conceptual and methodological approaches. To do this, it is also necessary to study and analyze the most famous and brilliant researches conducted by different social and humanitarian sciences. The historiographical review of urban researches will allow to select the most efficient methodological strategy for further analysis of a modern Russian city. The main research method used by the author of the article is the critical analysis and comparative historical review of the cocnepts of urban studies. The researcher has also describes the main historical stages and scientific schools in contemporary urban studies. Based on the historiographical anaylsis of modern city researches, the author concludes that one of the most effective and relevant in terms of volume and quality results in the social sciences is the semiotic approach that investigates the city as a system of signs represented in visual images and read by urban residents. Methodology of the research is mostly based on Michel de Certeau and Walter Benjamin who spoke about the perception of the city in motion and Henri Lefebvre's statements about the importance of the everyday experience of an urban resident. 

Abstract: The subject of this study includes conceptual and methodological approaches to the visual perception of the image of the city. This problem has become relevant in modern urban planning, and plenty of curious methods for studying the visual image of the city emerged over the past 10-15 years. The critical analysis of this method and the rationalization of choosing the visual image of the city as the subject of study for further empirical research has defined the topic of study in this science article. Thus, the article represents a proposition for a study of the visual image of the city to be conducted in accordance with the rationalized choice of the methodological strategy. The main method is the critical analysis of existing concepts and methods, monitoring of cutting-edge urban studies in order to choose the most relevant and efficient method for further empirical studies. While studying the visual perception of the image of the city, the author uncovered that researchers in this field use both, general and special methods. The general methods for researching the visual image of the city include questionnaires, sociological surveys, interview and content-analysis. Special methods of researching the visual image of the city involve the analysis of mental mapping, architectural semantic differentials, video- and photo content analysis, go-along, auto ethnography and decoding.