Abstract:
City and urban environment as a multifunctional space play an important role in creation of social
processes. Since it’s formation the city has become the focal point for innovations and a place where ideas are
generated that change not only the landscape, but also the worldview in general. Kazakhstani cities at the
turn of XIX-XX centuries during a long time has played a role of administrative and trade units. Integration
of marginal cities into the system of socio-economical relations of empire brought to a formation of
conditions where citizens become active not only in economic, but also in social aspect. Political segment of
the city developed in the context of all-Russian situation. Systematic crisis of the XIX-XX c. required new
formats of fighting for their rights. National intellectual class became one of the main subjects of urban
environment and develops their own style of struggle which was expressed through cultural enlightenment
and political activity.
Complex study of the city environment through the historical lens allows to gasp the nature of changes
occurring with the society and the state and identify possible scenarios of their interaction and development
perspectives. The article made an attempt to throw light interconditionality of cityscape and intellectual class
in the context of local processes. These processes are related to the formation of political space in the colonial
city and the influence of city on social activity of national intellectual class. The article uses the materials of
Kazakhstani and Russian archives, document of regional archives, such as the archive of Kostanay city and
North-Kazakhstan region. The methodological basis of the research are institutional and frontier approach,
which allow to identify the degree of urban environment and city space influence on formation of national
intellectual class. Also, it allows to study the evolution and development of political ideas and focus of Kazakh
intellectual class in the end of XIX beginning XX c. in the conditions of building relationship system between
the empire and national borders. Historical and genetical method is also applied in the present study, which
allows to consider the challenges of the development and identify patterns.
