People have always been consumers and consumption is about far more than buying and using things. The fact that we inhabit a consumer society has incredibly far-reaching implications, in terms of the way we live our lives, the things we value and the direction society is taking. The city has always been a prime site of social change and the relationship between the consumer society, and the postmodern city is the focus of this book. Drawing on the work of the consumer society's most influential theorists, Jean Baudrillard and Zygmunt Bauman, this book examines the nature of consumption and its increasing centrality to postmodern society by: considering the development of consumerism as a central facet of social life; demonstrating that social inequalities are increasingly structured around consumption; uncovering the hidden consequences of consumerism; pondering the meaning of lifestyle; and revealing how the nature of reality is changing in an age of globalization. Working through the often controversial ideas of Baudrillard and Bauman, the book assesses the ways in which consumerism is reshaping the nature and meaning of the city. Employing a sustained theoretical analysis, the book ranges across a variety of perhaps unexpected topics. It represents an impassioned plea for everyone interested in the social life of cities to take the notion of the consumer society - and the arguments of its major theorists - seriously.