The main sociocultural principles of designing various types of buildings and structures as elements of the urban environment are considered in detail. The social and functional features of the dynamics of urban space are analyzed taking into account the processes of urbanization and globalization. The social prerequisites for changing architectural objects during the evolution of the planning structure of the city are described, architectural design is interpreted as a means of developing the urban environment. Criteria for diagnosing the degree of maturity of individual elements of the spatially functional frame of a large city are given.