All Things Urban

Cities all around the world are under pressure to deliver a positive place to live, to work and to play, providing venues and services for their citizens and visitors. Those with a strong and distinctive historic legacy often have considerable additional pressures on their fabric, previously from national and international tourism activity and now in the context of the pandemic and climate emergency, more about public health, economic and social issues, and sustainable recovery. But cities under such pressure are fighting back. From Venice, Lisbon and Barcelona, to Paris, Amsterdam and Oslo, they are looking to re-balance their cities, with approaches to housing and homelessness, transport and streets, placemaking and events, to make them work better for all, and become healthier, more convivial places. Innovation includes new policies on transit expansion, on new public spaces, on cycling infrastructure, and on diversifying use and activity of the historic fabric. Leading cities under pressure are completely re-programming their cities, including their centres and neighbourhoods. This year’s Congress will provide an opportunity to explore and interrogate these issues, with particular reference to Edinburgh, together with representatives from cities around the world who have encountered and tackled these issues. Congress news and programme details: https://congress.academyofurbanism.org.uk/

Our mission is to understand, promote and celebrate what makes great places and to apply these lessons to the improvement of towns and cities across Europe and beyond. We do this by supporting, through access to expertise and knowledge of places, the people and organisations that create and sustain them.