Abstract
This article assesses the process of urbanization using an example of Kazakhstan. Also it examines the role of cities at the global level, and the impact on globalization. The authors consider the city as a basic element for social and economic development in comparative perspective. First, they analyze the impact of urban culture in the development of the dialogue of civilizations in Kazakhstan. Second, they analyze the demographic growth of the urban population and the problem of relationships between cities and peripheries. Third, they analyze cities as a new cultural phenomenon and organization of the cultural system focusing on similarities and differences of urban and rural culture.The city as a phenomenon has been and remains the subject of deep study, since it is in the city that the main spheres of human life are concentrated. Both in science and in philosophy, there are trends according to which the peculiarities of the development of metropolitan and provincial cities stand out in separate topics, and this is explained by the fact that the status of the city largely determines the fate of its development.