CSCR Theme: Living Cities

Theme co-ordinator

Kathrin Hörschelmann

Cities are sites of social interaction and in many ways are only brought into existence through the practices of social agents. They enable particular forms of sociality and bring together flows of people through networks that reach far beyond them and that intersect within them. The paradox of the density of urban populations on the one hand and of anonymity and social divisions within cities on the other hand have long been problematized by urban theorists. Living Cities investigates how this paradox plays out in contemporary urban contexts. The theme takes into account the effects of changes in governance and political economy for social cohesion and for the organisation of social life in cities. It asks how cities are imagined, experienced and performed through cultural practices. The issues we are addressing under this theme include: urban social inequalities; well-being; urban (sub)cultural practices; cities as sites of contestation and resistance; performativity, affect and the urban; and mobility, migration and diversity.