French philosopher and essayist Olivier Mongin presents a structured treatise on the contemporary meaning, in times of globalization, of city or urban space. It, however, is not an interdisciplinary thematic encyclopedia, but rather a framework for confrontation between different disciplines that address the topic in a different manner, including literature, history, architecture and social sciences, a framework which enables cities to once again become a general notion, polis, and an essential policy focus, in other words, that which all citizens share, and stop being merely a term or a word acquiring different, unrelated meanings in different areas of study.
The "urban condition" refers to more than merely a relationship between principles and the reality of urban space, it also addresses the urban experience gained from making use of it.