The parallel coexistence on the large territory of the Golden Horde of the world of numerous, developed, comfortable by the standards of its time cities and the world of the steppe with nomadic tribes for almost two centuries requires theoretical comprehension. In the paper the concept of urban development on the territory of the Golden Horde, based on the results of the new archaeological investigations, conducted over the last twenty years on the ancient settlements of the European part of this State, is considered on the materials of the cities of the Crimean peninsula. In the development of of the Golden Horde State cities seven different chronological periods are determined, which cover the time from the 40s of the XIII century to the 20s of the XV century. In the XII century the historical situation in the Northern Black Sea region changed fundamentally. The lands formerly under the rule of the Byzantine Empire come under the protectorate of the Mongol Empire (later the Golden Horde). At the same time in the region appears another state formation - Genoese Gazaria, founded by colonists from Northern Italy. As a result, three different urban traditions coexist on the territory of the Crimean peninsula in the XIII–XV centuries. The first of them is Byzantine. The second urban planning tradition is Golden Horde (Eastern). The third one is Northern Italian (Genoese). The processes of urban formation on the Crimean peninsula in the XII–XV centuries took place within the Golden Horde urbanism, despite the fact that three different urban traditions were neighboring in the region.