Flux Cities

What if our shared understanding of the 'real' that shapes our everyday life in cities is misconceived? Static facts about the city alone never convey the totality of socially produced truths. The messy conflation of such generates 'realities' of the city that cannot be easily explained with established ways of dealing with the city. While science and technology increasingly contest the boundaries between humans and non-humans, they impact our urban way of life in diverse and dynamic new ways. On the one hand, in cities, social encounters are increasingly mediated through inanimate objects such as mobile phones and public spaces for health and well-being, which expose animate life such as flora and fauna, which are increasingly designed, managed and regulated. On the other hand, with or without technology, cities deal with uncontrolled expansion, informality, and displacement, forcing us to engage with different ways of thinking about development.

Yet, in both cases, many people living in cities feel lonely and left behind. Collective well-being and balance remain out of reach. At such a scale, the enduring cultural relationship and connections to land are fragmented and even broken. This book offers a revelational way forward to engage with the city in a different way through the idea of Flux Cities. This idea speaks to readers who are open to staying outside of the theoretical comfort zone. It satisfies the longing to pay attention to vulnerabilities and complexities by questioning what constitutes the 'real' while remaining part of an irreducible whole that is in flux. Practical examples focus on the context of messy informality evident in African cities and playful encounters in place. This book will appeal to readers across disciplines, including urban planning, architecture, design, sociology, geography, anthropology, philosophy, politics, environmental psychology, and African studies.