Pathways towards an affectionate community: place-making practices of small business owners in ger areas of Ulaanbaatar

This article examines lived citizenship among migrant-owned small businesses in Ulaanbaatar through their routine place-making practices under socio-economic constraints. Building on a four-dimensional framework suggested by Kallio, Häkli, and Wood the article argues that affective citizenship should be understood as a connective force that enables spatial, performative and intersubjective forms of citizenship. Drawing on urban ethnography conducted in two ger-area localities, the findings show how trust, familiarity, care, and symbolic attachment enable business owners to navigate precarious urban conditions while building socio-economic security and local recognition. By foregrounding affection as a mode of agency, the study reframes ger areas as spaces of grassroots urbanism and extends debates on lived citizenship from a post-socialist, rapidly urbanizing context that remains under-represented in global urban studies.