For the last two decades Russia has become one of the important centers for international migration. The prossesses of incorporation of these large-scale flows of migrants into the Russian society lead to the changes on various levels, creating territories of distinction in the megalopolises of the receiving state. Until recently research projects in the field of migration in the CIS space have been devoted more to the questions of work rather than to the questions of entertainment. The neglect of the sphere of migrants' entertainment might be caused, among other factors, by the minor character of this sphere until recently. However, by now the preliminary list of 'Kyrgyz' cafes in Moscow contains 40 places; not to mention cafes oriented towards other 'ethnic groups'.

In this paper, we will try to contribute to this neglected topic and look at the questions of whether these cafes can serve as a basis for 'communities' in Russian cities on example of Moscow. What role do cafes play in everyday life and communication of migrants? What social practices arise around cafes? In what way do cafes take part in the formation of migrant' infrastructure? What is of interest here is whether cafes can be agents of incorporation, assisting in the adaptation to the social space of megalopolis; next, whether this incorporation means enforcement of ethnic boundaries, in which gender comes into play.

The presentation is based on the fieldwork being conducted from May 2012 onwards, during which different cafes which are popular among migrants from Central Asia, are visited.

This paper is based on a number of anthropological researches aimed at examining daily lives of labour migrants arriving from post-Soviet states to St.Petersburg for low-skilled jobs. Home-making and housing are amongst vital and existential issues migrants face when move. Home is a milty-dimensional phenomenon; however, this paper will focus mainly on migrant home as dwelling and city.

Since the collapse of the USSR, Russian migration policy has been moving from a socially-oriented to the security-oriented management. The state ignored issues of social infrastructure and social security in migrants' lives. Labour migrants used to rent dwelling on regular and irregular bases, moving from one place to another due to changing of a working place. Such a practice produces a certain concept of migrant home - flexible, changeable, light, and moving within the city area. This concept corresponds to the logic of migrants' everyday and short-term strategies they apply.

Contemporary government has acknowledged that Russia's economy needs migration, whereas migrants need social rights. Integration is now a building block of Russian migration policy. In terms of housing it means launching a state project of social housing. This initiative, involving various agents, attempts to cover demands of both low- and highly qualified labour immigrants coming to St.Petersburg. So far it works with low-skilled labour migrants and creates different concept of home, including attachment to place, limitation of privacy and nonworking activities.

Overall, the research of migrant's home allows making some considerations on the processes of integration going on in the Russian megapolis.

Nizhniy Novgorod, founded in 1221 as a center of trade, was closed for foreigners during the Soviet period, which was also marked by a significant development and industrial growth of the city. The city lies on two banks of the Oka River, the upper part -- on the hill side of the Oka -- being the historical center, and the lower one comprising industrial area. In the 1990s, when, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the economic situation in the country was unstable, this division was particularly noticeable - increase in crime and social tension affected primarily the industrial districts.

Currently, this division remains, which is evident, above all, from the cost of housing based on proximity to a historic center, infrastructure development and environmental situation. However, the division has never gone to such extremes as in Western countries.

The city as well as the whole country needs constant migration flows.

Internal migration does not pose any major problems for the life of the city as the main inflow of the labor force is accounted for by nearby towns - people commute to and from work but live in their native towns.

However, internal migration flow is not enough to improve the situation - In recent years the number of foreign immigrants has been growing (the majority coming from Central Asia).

One of the most visible cases of migration in post-Soviet space in the last decade has been the massive inflow of Kyrgyz citizens to the megalopolises of Russia. Kirghiz migrants usually do not have official invitations or other legal grounds for migrating to Russia; rather they normally come to Russia ostensibly to visit their friends and relatives who already reside here, and they rely on these network for assistance on such issues as finding jobs, accommodations etc. Generally speaking, the Kyrgyz community in Moscow is characterized by stable social relationships which help its members to live and work in the city.

In Moscow, the city where over the Soviet years state policies resulted in social mixed neighborhoods, there are no ghettos, ethnically marked suburbs or separate quarters, on the pattern which can be observed in many European and American cities. At the same time, newly arriving immigrants who work as general worker, janitors and cleaners, establish the visible and invisible structures inside the existing quarters.

This paper will discuss the structure of relationships and social relations of the Kirghiz immigrant in one of Moscow's quarters. We also attempt to delineate a area inside this quarter which themselves immigrants designate as "their". We will look into ways in which immigrants integrate into the urban space and analyze the problems related to their adaptation in the megalopolis.

Large scale housing estates (LSHE) present one of the most common features of the socialist legacy in the spatial structure of all post-socialist megalopolises. The size of LSHE in terms of space and population allows treating them as a peculiarity of a large post-socialist city. Traditional perception coming from socialist time of LSHE as socially homogeneous areas is questioned in this paper. The results of an urban regional study of St. Petersburg reveal that - along with the growing differentiation of local housing opportunities - the socio-spatial differentiation among the various types of large scale housing estates increases. Meanwhile, the acceptance and demand for them is stable. The paper investigates three types of LSHE in St. Petersburg that differ in morphology and date of construction. We revealed different pace of social differentiation as well as different perception of living environment among the residents depending on the type of LSHE.

My paper is based on my own social psychological field-research in Moscow and St Petersburg. I am especially interested to understand changes in socio-cultural and religious practices of Chechen and Ingush migrants. It is important to realize how quickly a process of adaptation and integration of new-comers into megalopolises' social life is going on. I am observing social psychological particularities of Chechens and Ingush living in big cities and trying to understand how they conserve their ethnic moral code and their native languages outside their homelands. I used for my study a special questionnaire distributed among migrants.

The Historical Mosque of Moscow is one of the biggest mosques in the city. Historically it was build for Tatars and still is administrated by them, but over Post-Soviet time many migrants from Muslim background arrived and are arriving to Moscow. They arrive from North Caucasus, Central Asia and Azerbaidjan, and some other Muslim counries as Afghanistan and Arabic countries. These people visit on regular basis The Historical Mosque. So it is not possible to say that this mosque is today a Tatar one. It is not just a place of prayer, but also a centre of local Muslim economy with its shops, cafe etc. I would like to discuss in my paper how all this diversity is developping during last years, what kind of conroversities are in this process and tendencies we can observe in this complexity of social life of Muslim migrants.

The dominants of the city space which form the image of Astrakhan and Samara in the perception of the locals are the banks of the Volga, adjacent parks and historical-cultural complexes. The locals perceive the sites in the historical context, show emotional connections with the city space.

The majority of migrants have limited knowledge of the city. The 'mental map' of migrant is often limited to specific places: railway stations, site of work and accomodation. Migrants and the locals differ in the list of places considered as unpleasant or dangerous. While for the locals the market places are troublesome or dangerous, migrants assess them positively.

The differences in the perception of the urban space by the locals and migrants depend on the experience of living in this environment, orientation of migrants towards adaptation and integration in the specific city community. These differences are quickly going down, especially if migrant possesses human, social capital.

Children of migrants (1.5 generation) navigate in the city space similarly to the locals. However, the list of the places favoured by the 1.5 generation, includes a considerable number of places which are perceived by the locals with anxiety but favored by the migrants.

The key result is the following: the degree to which the perception of the city space by migrant differs from its perception by an ordinary city-dweller, may to a high extent characterize the level of the adaptation of a migrants and his/her integration potential. The presentation is based on the results of the research conducted in 2009-2012.