Cities are an unprecedented focus of attention: over half the world now lives in them, culture and politics are shaped by them, and they are also focal points for new relationships between nature, technology and the human body. This essay collection brings together a range of cutting-edge international scholarship on cities, urbanization and urban culture. The format of the collection is a series of small essays in the spirit of Benjamin, Kracauer and other innovative forms of writing and observation. The collection explores themes such as new forms of political mobilization, the effects of economic instability, the political ecology of urban nature and the presence of collective memory. Cultural aspects of urban change are also considered including the work of artists, film makers and others, who have sought to critically engage with processes of urban change. The global scope of the collection includes essays on London, Berlin and Los Angeles, as well as less extensively studied cities such as Buenos Aires, Lagos and Seoul.