Precariousness of the urban life: sowing the seeds of conflict

The paper focuses on the concept of conflict within the new field of urban ethics. After a quick view on the topic of the ideal city as utopia, thoroughly depicted in the history of philosophy, the paper analyses the concept of space and one specific property of it: replicability. After defining it, the paper shows how this specific quality of space fosters precariousness within the socio-economic urban fabric: hence, the concept of the pre- carious city is outlined. The paper pinpoints the main consequences of precariousness for the urban lifestyle, particularly for the urban peripheries, and highlights how replicability and precariousness shape conflict within the city and among different urban areas and dwellers. The paper concludes with an assessment whether con- flict is a physiological condition for urban life and the harmonious city a mere utopia or otherwise.