We usually associate contemporary urban life with movement and speed. But what about those instances when the forms of mobility associated with globalized cities - the flow of capital, people, labour and information - freeze, or decelerate? How can we assess the value of interruption in a city? What does valuing stillness mean in regards to the forward march of globalization? When does inertia presage decay - and when does it promise immanence and rebirth?Bringing together original contributions by international specialists from the fields of architecture, photography, film, sociology and cultural analysis, this cutting-edge book considers the poetics and politics of inertia in cities ranging from Amsterdam, Berlin, Beirut and Paris, to Beijing, New York, Sydney and Tokyo. Chapters explore what happens when photography, film, mixed media works, architecture and design intervene in public spaces and urban communities to disrupt speed and growth, both intellectually and/or practically; and question the degree to which mobility is aspirational or imaginary, absolute or transient. Together, they encourage a re-assessment of what it means to be urban in an unevenly globalizing world, to live in cities built around mythologies of perpetual progress. These new analyses of visual culture's strategic interruptions in global cities allow a more in-depth understanding of the new forms of space, experience, and community that are emerging in today's rapidly transforming urban environments.

1. Introduction: Globalization and InterruptionStephanie Hemelryk Donald (UNSW) and Christoph Lindner (University ofAmsterdam)PART 1 - STILLNESS2. Urban Photography as InterruptionShirley Jordan (Queen Mary, University of London)3. 'At the still point of the turning world': The Paradox of the Urban PortraitHugh Campbell (University College Dublin)4. Parkour and the Stilled ImageBill Marshall (University of London)5. Holding Patterns: Affirming Stillness for Commuting SubjectsDavid Bissell (Australian National University)PART 2 - DECELERATION6. Viennese Inertia: Deceleration and Local Identity ConstructionHeide Kunzelmann (University of London) and Elisabeth Mayerhofer (Vienna)7. Decelerating Global Amsterdam: Amnesiac Urbanism and Architectures of Immobility5Christoph Lindner (University of Amsterdam)8. Inertia and the Everyday during the Seige of BeirutClaire Launchbury (University of Leeds)PART 3 - SLOW MOTION9. Children and the Global City: Disguising Decay in Chinese and European FilmStephanie Hemelryk Donald (University of New South Wales)10. Intermedia, Scale, and Postmodern LisbonLúcia Nagib (University of Leeds)11. Slow Motion Pictures: Casting Inertia in Contemporary Berlin FilmsAndrew Webber (University of Cambridge)12. AfterwordLaura Mulvey (Birkbeck, University of London)