Defamiliarizing the City: Play, Affect, and the Activation of Imaginaries

Radojevic, Radmila, Simeona Petkova, and Núria Arbonés Aran

Núria Arbonés Aran

Dr. Núria Arbonés Aran, PhD, is a programme leader at the research group Cities & Visitors, which is hosted at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Hogeschool Van Amsterdam, and the Amsterdam School of International Business. Born and raised in Barcelona, she has lived and worked in several places before settling in the Netherlands. Núria has a Master in Catalan Philology from the University of Barcelona, and a Master of Arts and a PhD in Urban Studies from the University of Amsterdam (UvA). At the AUAS/HvA she found a context to initiate and develop longstanding programmes on international and intercity research and education. Since 2015, she has been particularly focused on research in Amsterdam Zuidoost. With projects such as ‘Moving Amsterdam Zuidoost’ and ‘Researching the Cities: Mapping Imaginaries’, she has co-authored research on places, images, identities and reputations.

Dossiers, no. 3, vol. 10November 10, 2025<November 14, 2025

Defamiliarizing the City: Play, Affect, and the Activation of Imaginaries

Radmila Radojevic, Simeona Petkova and Núria Arbonés Aran

Play activates our imagination, but it can also fall short in fostering real change. Radmila Radojevic, Simeona Petkova and Núria Arbonés Aran reflect on this tension in relation to rapidly changing neighborhoods.