Introduction

This chapter discusses the operational notions, terms, definitions which are used in the book—big cities, megapolis, capital. The chapter focuses principally on the methodological aspect of the book such as critical geography, specifications of connection between explanans and explanandum and the vital aspect of book’s theoretical framework—the phenomenon of the political. It examines some key characteristics of the political and presents some explanations for the selection of its criteria. A number of ways of strengthening these criteria are then discussed as well as the fact that the Moscow political—the space where political activity unfolds—has been shaped by the interplay between three types of political—antagonism, agonism and Platonism. It is argued that in Russian public space the city of Moscow has often been an arena of confrontation between the state power and city administration plans. One of the most important features characterizing contemporary Russia is the development of a vertical power and Moscow as a space of the political emphasis on the oppositions in Russia—capital (power) and regions.