Urban Trauma Between Perceptivity and Sensitivity

Abstract

Abstract: This article introduces a conceptual framework for analysing urban trauma at the intersection of trauma studies and emotional/affective geography. It frames urban trauma not merely as the aftermath of past violent events, but as a recurring spatial condition. To capture these dimensions, the study distinguishes between Affective/Synchronic Urban
Trauma (ASUT) and Emotional/Diachronic Urban Trauma (EDUT). While ASUT is oriented toward present and future insecurity, EDUT structures violence as a completed historical experience, transforming it into a symbolic resource for collective identity. Furthermore, this framework foregrounds bodily perception, sensory engagement, and emotional navigation in urban
space. Applying Michel Foucault’s concept of care of the self, the analysis demonstrates that encounters with traumatic urban landscapes involve not only remembering historical suffering, but also recognizing it as a potential dimension of one’s own existence.