The AllMusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 41⁄2 stars stating "Potter's writing on Imaginary Cities engages every aspect of his jazz palette.

It’s a disc that it is completely fresh and idiomatically only itself, with great solos all through it, not least of all by Potter on tenor and soprano saxophone and bass clarinet.

"[6] All About Jazz correspondent John Kelman observed "with Imaginary Cities Potter has created the first real masterpiece of 2015.

A profound paradigm shift for the saxophonist, Imaginary Cities suggests that the end point of Potter's potential seems still very far beyond the horizon.

"[3] Another review by Karl Ackermann stated "Imaginary Cities is an expansive album expressing divergent motifs linked together through a central theme.