City of Shadows: A Study of Urban Dystopia and Loss of Humanity

Abstract

Aims: The paper investigates the portrayal of cities as dystopian landscapes in literature, cinema, and critical theory, unravelling their role in exacerbating alienation, ethical disintegration, and the fragmentation of individual and collective identities. The city, often envisioned as a beacon of progress and innovation, emerges in dystopian narratives as a locus of alienation, dehumanization, and existential despair.

Methodology and Approaches: Focusing on seminal works like J.G. Ballard's High-Rise, alongside films such as Blade Runner and Metropolis, this study explores how urban dystopias are characterized by hyper-surveillance, commodification, and spatial inequality. The research adopts a multidisciplinary lens, integrating urban sociology, postmodernism, and dystopian studies, to interrogate how the physical and symbolic architecture of cities mirrors broader anxieties about modernity.

Outcome: The city is not just a setting but an active participant in human dehumanization, serving as a nexus where technology and capitalism undermine intimacy, moral frameworks, and community cohesion.

Conclusion and Suggestions: This paper argues that the dystopian city reflects a profound loss of humanity, functioning as both a cautionary tale and a critique of neoliberal urbanism.