Dhaka, Everyday Imagination and the Subjective City (The Contemporary City)

This book examines the affective domain of the city to visibilise the invisible order that informs the complex urban reality in today's world.  Exploring both the lived and imaginary properties of Dhaka, it uncovers alternative spatial logics and signifying relations among other local dynamics shaping urban knowledge. Moving beyond traditional research frameworks, it focuses on ordinary residents’ subjective engagement with the city and conceptualizes the imaginary city as a social intermediary. Taking Dhaka as a case study, the author highlights the complexities in the relationship between the "hard city" (physical infrastructure) and "soft city" (lived, embedded realities), arguing the latter is not merely an emotional response to the concrete urban space. Using an interdisciplinary lens from literature, the book expands the scope of urban studies, promotes inter-Asia references, and enriches empirical analysis of Asia’s cultural changes. It also examines inclusive, competing urban knowledge production sites by analyzing non-official popular cultural products—such as transport art —which circulate and sustain the city’s popular imaginaries. As a valuable addition to psycho-social and cultural urban scholarship, it positions the "imagined city" as a key analytical tool, prompting readers to rethink the boundary between the physical and imaginary urban spaces globally.