ABSTRACT
In this chapter we will be taking a closer look at what was, perhaps, one of the most puzzling aspects of trying to answer the question that was posed in the previous chapter: what is a city? The surprise, for the most part, was that the more that was expressed about the city, the more difficult it became to pin it down, either in words or images. The intensity and sharp focus of city life, brought about largely through the proximity and density of social relationships as well as their marked diversity and difference, gave us something to hold onto. Yet much of city life still seemed to slip through our fingers. But perhaps that is just how it is. In truth, it may be easier to acknowledge the fact that we cannot grasp the city as a whole, precisely because it is not a singular entity. There is, then, no one thing called ‘the city’ which we can simply reveal in all its breathtaking fullness.
