Making worlds in urban cultural studies

In this editorial, we explore the relevance of the concepts of worlding and world-making within the context of urban cultural studies. We ask how cultural practices make worlds and how these practices are in turn worlded, with particular attention to the diverse forms that the urban (as a ‘global’ phenomenon) takes across the world and fact that academic research itself should be considered a form of worlding. In doing so, three focal points come to the fore. The first is the importance of so-called ‘elite dreams’ and their messy and contested relation with worlding practices from below. Second, we emphasize the need to examine the social, political and economic contexts in which cultural objects are created, distributed and received – which calls for an interdisciplinary approach. Third, we focus on historical differences and the need for longer-term perspectives within scholarly research, considering how particular cultural practices are preserved and remembered.