Dialogues on Everyday Urbanism

The city is more than a physical assemblage of buildings, streets, infrastructure, and systems; it is a lived environment continually shaped by the routines, interactions, memories, aspirations, and negotiations of its inhabitants. Dialogues on Everyday Urbanism brings together a collection of studies that examine the everyday dimensions of urban life, drawing attention to the ways in which ordinary spaces and practices influence the social, cultural, technological, and spatial character of contemporary cities. Moving beyond conventional readings of urbanism, the contributions explore how everyday environments are continuously adapted, contested, appropriated, and transformed. The studies engage with a broad range of concerns, including the retrofitting of smart technologies, the assessment and continued relevance of traditional water infrastructure such as stepwells, the cultural continuity of Indian urban environments, and emerging possibilities associated with AI-driven mobility and many other issues. Together, they reveal how public, semi-public, residential, heritage, and infrastructural spaces acquire meaning through patterns of use, social interaction, cultural expression, technological intervention, and changing urban aspirations. By bringing together perspectives from users, architects, urban designers, planners, conservationists, researchers, and decision-makers, the volume reinforces the importance of understanding the relationship between physical settings and lived experience in shaping inclusive, resilient, adaptable, and responsive urban futures. Written for architects, urban designers, planners, conservation practitioners, researchers, students, policymakers, administrators, and other built-environment professionals, this volume also reaches beyond disciplinary boundaries. Its focus on everyday urban experience makes it equally relevant to communities and citizens seeking to understand, engage with, and contribute meaningfully to the evolving environments of their cities.