The author presents the research project “City-making: space, culture and identity”which is focused on contemporary urban transformations of Zagreb. The article is a research report on particular project activities and on several theoretical and methodological challenges that unfold from the research. The paper starts with a glimpse of urban research in (Croatian) ethnology and cultural anthropology in which the current project is embedded. Research segments into city-making by art and city-making by public events are briefly described in two parts of the article.The focus is however, on indications of certain topics and approaches that stem from particular research (time, motion, affect) which could be considered as potent for further theorizing the city and urban space. Correspondingly, research methods of walking ethnography and sensory ethnography are also discussed as valuable tools in this work in progress research.