AccScience Publishing / AC / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/ac.4130
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Cinematic urbanism: Understanding cities through film

Tigran Haas1*
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1 Department of Urban Planning and Environment, School of Architecture and the Built Environment, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Teknikringen 10 A, Plan 1, Stockholm, Sweden
AC, 4130 https://doi.org/10.36922/ac.4130
Submitted: 3 July 2024 | Accepted: 20 August 2024 | Published: 8 October 2024
© 2024 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
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Abstract

This reflective paper explores the unique relationship between cinema and urbanism, illustrating how films offer a rich and multifaceted lens for understanding urban environments. Reflecting on a range of films, particularly Blade Runner and The Truman Show, the paper demonstrates how cinema captures and critiques cultural and social norms, represents urban spaces, and influences perceptions of architecture and urban design, especially in pedagogical contexts within urbanism university programs. These two movies have also been chosen as they represent paradigmatic cases on which analysis of new and post-urbanism has been done in urbanism studios. The paper emphasizes the pivotal role of films in shaping and reflecting our understanding of urban environments. The main crux and objective of the paper is the exploration and highlights of the educational value of films in urban studies, particularly within two master’s programs, offering insights into cities’ spatial dimensions and reflections on urban forms’ social life. The study integrates key scholarly perspectives and new cinematic urbanism pedagogics (a seven-step methodology developed in the studios). By weaving together these perspectives, this essay underscores the multifaceted relationship between cinema and urbanism, demonstrating how films can serve as powerful tools for understanding and shaping urban environments and the complex social life of urban forms. The paper ends with general conclusions and recommendations for policy and practice.

Keywords
Cinematic urbanism
Urban spaces
Cityscapes
Psychogeography
Urbanism studios
Film storytelling
The Truman Show
Blade Runner
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
The author declares no competing interests.
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