The article attempts to introduce urban planning as a particular field of interest within urban sociology and studies of urban change. In the introduction, urban planning is defined as an activity interconnecting production and use of expert knowledge, decision making on the level of local governance, and processes of creating representations of a city and - especially - its inhabitants. This approach is clarified in more detail when adopted to explain the role of these representations within contemporary urban planning. According to some authors, urban planning in Europe has been on the rise since 1 980s, due to the attenuation of the nation state's role as guarantor and planner of cities' prosperity. Creating specific images of the `place' and `local identity' production become an important part of urban planning in this new context. Critical readings of case studies, as well as the proposed example of the city of Brno and the document Strategy for Brno, raise the question about the role representations of city inhabitants play in attempts to "integrate" urban society and in strenghtening the importance of the city as a structure of "identification" for inhabitants. Finally, the chances of cities competing with nation states as "levels" of identification are considered and questioned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]