The problem considered in the article is the specifics of Ekaterinburg - Sverdlovsk development in the XX century, as the major economic, social and cultural center of the country. A particular task is to analyze the socio-cultural development models of Sverdlovsk as a large urban center of the Soviet era. To address the task, the social actors and institutions of Sverdlovsk of the 1930s - 1980s are explored, as well as the urban planning policies, the city images and the symbolic representation systems created by them. As a result of the research, it is revealed that during the Soviet era, Sverdlovsk remained a city of the two balancing leading social groups: the working class (actually represented by the party-economic bureaucracy) and the intellectual society. Up to the 1950s large-scale industrial construction prevailed, which determined both the city geography (a conglomerate of workers’ settlements around the administrative and cultural center) and the symbolic policy of the working class domination (awards, street names, literary politics, fine arts and photography). Starting from the 1960s the rapid growth of the intellectual class numbers began, which made up at least 10% of the city's population by the 1970s. The new social stratum was a kind of ‘culture of the place’ bearer (according to O. A. Yanitskiy) implying a greater interest in local history, environmental, and leisure issues. New city districts, not associated with industrial enterprises, emerged, the unique projects, such as the creation of the Historical Square or the Ural Scientific Center of the USSR Academy of Sciences were implemented. However, despite the declared in the General Plan of Reconstruction and Development of Sverdlovsk for 1970 - 2000 transformation of the city from a working center into a center of science, culture and high-tech production, the working class retained dominating position until the end of the Soviet era, and the new construction program of a scientific and cultural profile was never implemented to the full extent. Nevertheless, today's geography of Sverdlovsk is still largely shaped by the Soviet time heritage.