Middle Class Urbanism

New Aesthetics of Difference and Detachment in Cities of the Global South

During the last couple of decades, the urban middle class has been consistently mobilized as the harbinger of viable futures for the cities of the Global South. Today practitioners, researchers and analysts are less upbeat in their predictions about the prospective role of the urban middle class. In many cities of the Global South macro-economic growth has not materialized and it is doubtful whether an expanding middle class does, in fact, lead to the expected outcomes.

Still, while the urban middle classes may have failed to bring about radical improvements of socio-political and economic conditions, imageries and expectations associated with ‘middle classness’ continue to reverberate across the urban landscapes of many cities today.

How do transnational flows and geopolitical aesthetics affect middle class articulations in cities of the Global South?

How do urbanites use middle class aesthetics as a driver for urban citizenship?

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