The problem of identity, means and forms of personal identification with social environment is in the focus of recent anthropological research. Group identity analysis, as an important part of urban space investigations, allows reflecting upon citizens’ values and aspirations at individual and group levels, as well as showing common and specific features of the city images.  Our empirical study of urban identity in Chisinau, based on interviews and focus groups, aimed to reconstruct city images and ethno-cultural characteristics of local identities. The results showed that urban identity is closely related to the ethno-cultural belonging of respondents and their experience of urban socialization, thus reflecting the main socio-cultural context (city and state history, different forms of massive migration).  Belonging to a referent group is one of the most important factors of individual emotional well-being. Positive identification with the city promotes a more acute reacting to the city problems. The level of urban socialization is the main factor, influencing the estimation of dynamic processes of urban space transformations. Native-born residents, as a rule, express concern about historical center maintenance for continuity and preservation of the urban matrix, which nowadays is blurred or not completely formed. Residents with rural origin, being mainly of traditional culture, in general do not express value-based attitude towards the symbolic potential of the city. It must be emphasized that positive local identity, which could be a resource for solidarity and development, needs a definite period of stability, as well as its constant reproduction by cultural institutions, local and central administration, residents and other actors in the informational environment of the city, that is the symbolic capital of Chisinau needs to be estimated and used for the enhancement of its attractiveness.