The study presented in the article is a part of the research project “Re-gional identity in terms of socio-economic changes (On the example of Nizhniy Novgorod region, 2002—2014 years)”. It reveals gender aspects of participants’ subjective opinions towards problems of urban development and characterizes social and psychological potential of the studied area. The study involved pro-vincial cities residents — citizens of regional center and small towns of the Ni-zhniy Novgorod region. The first stage was based on a sample of 516 people (49 % women, 51 % men, 2002), the second stage — on a sample of 366 people (63 % women, 37 % men, 2014). Participants formulated their own vision of the majority opinion on the prospects of the city, expressed their individual views on urban development programs, stated areas where they were willing to show personal participation, which allowed to determine the changes in the indices of ego-activity, altruism and solidarity of citizens in the past 12 years. Based on the results of the study the article states that, presenting the position of the majority, men and women articulate gender stereotyped attitudes about city development. However, while formulating individual urban development priorities citizens are focused on egalitarian non-stereotypical choices. An analysis of attitudes towards the activity in the field of urban development shows that women are focused on humanitarian priorities, and they believe that society is becoming more focused on “male values”. Over the 12 years the women under study, while maintaining the overall activity, have become more independent, without solidarity and are not ready for altruistic behavior. Men — residents of provincial towns — consistently include safety into public priorities and adopt con-servative positions in the area of “male activities” and tend to share the practice of “failed masculinity”. For 12 years, men have become less solidary and altruis-tic. We can conclude that the ecological dominance in the values and priorities of urban development among both men and women unites their mental concepts and real actions.read in PDF>>
