ORGANIZATION OF URBAN SPACE: METHODOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS AND GEOGRAPHICAL ASPECTS

Abstract

The organization of urban space has become an important scientific and practical direction for ensuring sustainable urban development under the intensification of urbanization processes. However, urban spatial organization is often examined primarily from planning or economic perspectives, while its geographical and methodological foundations remain insufficiently systematized. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify the main directions of sustainable urban development through the analysis of methodological foundations and geographical aspects of urban space organization. 

The study is based on a case study approach using Alatau City – a new urban development project in Kazakhstan oriented toward Smart City principles – as the research object. The research employed system analysis, comparative geographical methods, structural-logical analysis, cartographic analysis, and modelling techniques. Urban concepts developed within foreign and Soviet scientific schools were comparatively analysed according to the social, economic, and environmental components of sustainable development. 

The results demonstrate that urban spatial organization functions as a multi-level socio-spatial system whose effective development depends on balanced territorial structure, coordinated infrastructure distribution, and principles of spatial justice. The spatial development model of Alatau City is considered as an applied example of integrating the Smart City concept with sustainable development components. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the systematization of geographical approaches to urban spatial organization through the integration of urban theories and digital urban development concepts. The obtained results may serve as a methodological basis for improving urban planning, spatial policy, and contemporary models of urban governance.