Creative localities are a poorly studied phenomenon from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. The authors, relying on Joas's concept of situational creativity, define creative localities as new self-organizing forms of social space, which are characterized by a certain localization and specific social interaction, which provokes creative processes that transform urban life. The article presents the results of a study of youth creative localities among Russian megacities using the example of two segments -business (young startup people promoting their innovative ideas/projects; young specialists and heads of departments in innovative “advanced” companies) and urban creative activism (young organizers and volunteers of city events, street art festivals; young authors of creative “products” of city festivals and events; members of city communities engaged in micropractices of transforming the urban environment). The empirical basis of the research is indepth interviews with the agents of “making” a creative “product”. Based on the analysis of interview data, the following conclusions are drawn. The main condition for the implementation of creative projects is the social micro-environment of direct interaction and support - a team, partners, like-minded people, a community. At the meso- and macroenvironment level, the necessary conditions for urban activists are financial support from the state, local administrations, federal and regional businesses, grant funds, while maintaining freedom of expression and minimizing pressure from the authorities; for business representatives, this means information support from the state, financial support from private investors, and the presence of a politically neutral educational platform for the exchange of experience. Barriers hindering the development of creative localities are most significantly manifested at the meso- and macro-levels: for urban activists, these are misunderstandings, negative attitudes from residents and local media, the ongoing supervisory policy of the state, and restrictions on grassroots creative initiatives that accompany this policy; for business representatives, this is general socio-economic and political instability, closed access to global technologies, overall systemic corruption. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.