What Constitutes the ‘Urban’ and the ‘City’?

Urban metamorphosis traverses entangled and consequently contested landscapes mediating dichotomies of ‘nature-culture’ and ‘environment-subject’. Urban theory examines how networks and landscapes hiding obscure aspects of modernity shape the modern city. As part of material modernization, practical usefulness combines with standardized and universally applicable economic value; an unrealistic perspective towards the nature of urban infrastructure that not only obscures the labour involved, but undermines the urban environment itself, establishing a governance model where infrastructure networks take precedence, influencing economic, political, cultural, and ideological activities. These networks significantly contribute to the material, economic, and geopolitical fabric of modern cities, representing both opportunities and limitations in their geographies. In his book, Maan Barua goes beyond this traditional focus on the old and new in modern urban life, introducing a discourse that integrates ecology and the role of non-human life in shaping the political dynamics of urban development. This challenges the fundamental understanding of what constitutes the ‘urban’ and the ‘city’, transforming our understanding of urban ontology. He delves into the poetics of urbanism, highlighting the crucial role of the ‘more-than-human’ or ‘posthuman’ elements in shaping cities. Rather than perceiving their presence as disruptive, Barua sees them as integral to urban development, and thus, expands the scope of urbanization beyond the traditional city boundaries to encompass suburban and peri-urban areas, including landfills and agricultural sites. Through vivid backdrops of London and Delhi, the book persuasively illustrates how cities serve as dynamic spaces for myriad processes, which, often concealed within the mundane, wield tremendous influence over these urban spaces.