Rapid urbanisation is stoking paranormal anxieties in China | Aeon Essays

To consider the grounds and context of creating a new kind of city, this essay outlines the fraught history of urban density in the US and abroad, from its stigmatisation by city officials as a mark of poverty and uncleanliness, to its reinvention as an asset for artists and cultural workers in the post-industrial era, and onward to the continued a... See more

We are living through the final period of urbanization in human history, with approximately 78 million new residents being added to cities annually. These new urban residents are concentrated in countries in the Global South, which often lack the critical infrastructure and effective governance needed to accommodate rapid urban expansion. The choic... See more

There is a gentrification that is happening to cities, and there is a gentrification that is happening to the emotions too, with a similarly homogenising, whitening, deadening effect. Amidst the glossiness of late capitalism, we are fed the notion that all difficult feeling - depression, anxiety, loneliness, rage - are simply a consequence of unse

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