Spaces & Flows: Ninth International Conference on Urban and ExtraUrban Studies

Abstract

This paper begins with Plato’s thoughts on cities, and drawing on theories from Thomas More, Carl Marx, Henry Lefebvre, and David Harvey discusses utopia/dystopia thoughts, attempting to answering questions such as, what is it about spaces that makes them utopian and dystopian? Why do some dystopias look chaotic and others look orderly? Also, I use Coen Brothers and Woody Allen’s films which depict cities and city life, exploring the spatial order (visual and social order) in urban space by analyzing cinematography and film content, and again, discussing questions such as, how does the landscape play a role in film? How does the landscape create conflict, bring people together, keep them apart? Finally, by referring to the current political climate, I attempt to answer questions such as, what is the force behind the order? Why people in power want to manipulate the political landscape such as boundaries? By answering the questions, I argue, in real life, visual order follows the social order, as society comes before city; in cinema, however, social order follows visual order, as movie setting comes before story.