This article explores the concept of urban place and analyses the differences between a beloved place and a representative place in the perception of Russian youngsters. The concept of place itself was largely researched in urban studies and it is separated from the general urban space as places that receive meaning based on the activities of individuals and social groups. Two groups of Russian young people participated in the empirical research by completing surveys and creating mental maps. The collected material shows that the beloved places of young people are the parks of the city, followed by the Centre and Ciocana districts. In contrast, representative places indicated on the mental maps differ from the beloved ones and include symbolical places for the city, largely promoted publicly: Stephan the Great Monument, the Cathedral, the Arch of Triumph. Still, some beloved places were also considered representative and these are again the parks. The research concludes that both beloved and representative places differ mainly by the emotional attachment of the respondents, as individuals and groups are able to meet and generate different social scenarios.