@article{article_1719021, title={Liquid Modernity, Simulation and the City: The Cinematic Construction of Cities in Inception}, journal={Kent Akademisi}, volume={19}, pages={1–18}, year={2026}, DOI={10.35674/kent.1719021}, url={https://izlik.org/JA22UE82NF}, author={Yolcu, Pelin}, keywords={Sinema ve Kent, Simülasyon Kuramı, Akışkan Modernite, Mekân Üretimi, Kolektif Bellek}, abstract={<p>This study examines the cinematic construction of urban space through Christopher Nolan’s film Inception (2010) with a multi-layered analysis in the context of Jean Baudrillard’s theory of simulation, Zygmunt Bauman’s concept of liquid modernity, Henri Lefebvre’s theory of space production, and Marc Augé’s "non-place space" approach. In the film, the cities built on dream planes are positioned as aesthetic backgrounds and representations of the individual’s unconscious processes, social memory, identity construction and multifaceted relationships with the ideological structure. In the film, the cities built on dream planes are positioned as aesthetic backgrounds and representations of the individual’s unconscious processes, social memory, identity construction and multifaceted relationships with the ideological structure. The urban textures designed by the character Ariadne are evaluated as simulacrum structures in line with Baudrillard’s concept of hyperreality. While Bauman’s theory of liquid modernity provides a theoretical basis for the discontinuity, loss of belonging and identity dissolution observed in urban images, Lefebvre’s theory of space allows the analysis of cities in the film at the perceived, designed and lived spatial levels. Augé’s "non-place spaces" concept explains the anonymous and temporary nature of dream cities, which are disconnected from historical, social, and cultural contexts. Inception reveals that city representations are visual elements and multi-layered narrative areas where the relationships established by the individual with the psychological, social and ideological structure are reproduced on a cinematic level. In this context, the study offers a theoretical intersection between the disciplines of architecture, cinema, communication, and sociology, and it suggests new areas of research on the potential effects of digital architecture and virtual reality technologies on future cinematic city representations. </p>}, number={3}