ABSTRACT
How do cities manifest power? For sure this is a question for those who get to exercise power. The state, the governor, the military, developers, policy-makers, architects and planners to name just a few who are traditionally associated with the ability to influence urban form and city life. However, if power is understood more broadly as something that is diffused, instead of concentrated in the hands of a selected few, one could include members of civil society, religious leaders, the thugs, the media, historians and geographers, community organizers and artists, as well as residents and even the urban poor for each one of them in his or her own milieu plays a role in shaping ideas and practices of urban life.
