This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book highlights the many other ways in which the authors can imagine and model the relationship between architecture, literature and the city. It deals mainly with the types of ideas introduced at the beginning of this essay – literature as urban history, the city as a literary character, and the parallel worlds of the architectural and literary imagination. The book looks more generally at analytical strategies and creative methods, some of which are at the margins of what is normally considered architectural and literary culture. It focuses on how the techniques of literary fiction can serve as valuable tools for the creation of architectural atmospheres. The book sets out to show how literary language can illuminate the complex affective relations between citizens and urban space.