Objectives The relevance of the research is that today the cryosphere is perceived as an active element of the universe, as a resource, a source of opportunities for mankind, but not as a source of a threat. In this regard, experts of various fields of knowledge are increasingly interested in a research of the cold world, because cold constitutes a specific habitat which makes an impact on all spheres of human life.
A complex research of the city located in the permafrost zone is of specific scientific interest because it could help to solve not only some fundamental problems of the city life sustenance in extreme conditions, but also a wide range of humanitarian problems connected with conceptualization, habituation, cultural experience of life in «permafrost zone».
The urban space of northern territories as an innovative resource of development of a region is quite relevant to the strategy of sustainable development of Northern and Arctic territories of Russia. A continuous dialogue between fundamental and social sciences, between humanities and natural sciences is necessary for the region with such a fragile sociocultural and ecological system.
This project is an attempt of a comprehensive representation of problems connected with the interaction of cultures and domains in the Arctic, conceptualization of geocultural reality in terms of various discourses, different cross-sections of a cultural landscape – from sacral to pragmatic. The project has a local and global perspective and it might be considered as a theoretical and methodological basis for cultural and geographic studies of a specific territory or region as well as a step to creating the Arctic doctrine of the Russian Federation.
Methods. The underlying theoretical and methodological basis for the project is an interdisciplinary system of knowledge and ideas about the world of cold — cryosophy. The growth of anthropogenic pressures on the natural landscape identified the priority tasks of protecting fragile northern nature. In order to reveal the dialectic of the relationship between nature and man, it is necessary to use both approaches together, perceiving these interactions as a single complex process. The starting point of the humanitarian aspects of cryosophy can be considered the fact that various manifestations of the cold world form a specific habitat that affects almost all spheres of human life (physiology, psychology, behavioral strategies, economic activity, culture, etc.).
Results This project is an attempt at a holistic representation of the problems.
interaction of cultures and spaces of the Arctic, understanding of geo-cultural reality in the light of various discourses, different sections of the cultural landscape — from the sacred to the pragmatic. The project has a local and global perspective: it can be considered as a theoretical and methodological basis for cultural and geographical research of a specific territory and region, as well as one of the steps in creating the Arctic doctrine of the Russian Federation.
In addition, a comprehensive understanding of the unique experience of adapting a steppe horse-breeding culture in extreme conditions of a cryolithozone and the formation of a sustainable life-support model can be applied in the global Arctic.
Conclusions. Based on understanding cold as a resource and potential of creativity and co-creation will be developed a special model of cryosophy of Yakutsk: the natural landscape as part of the urban fabric should be more actively used in the strategies of adaptation and transformation of the «sustainable» landscape (landscape-park areas, winter parks, etc.).
