The Metaphysical City: Six Ways of Understanding the Urban Milieu

Cities are perhaps the most complex creation of humankind, eluding definition and understanding. Using the six metaphors of creature, human being, jail cell, thing/NOT, home, and spectacle and linking these respectively to the cities of New York, Paris, Cairo, Mumbai, Tokyo, and Los Angeles, I try to add an important tool to the comprehension of the urban milieu.