The Covid-19 crisis has made clear the disastrous effects of years of austerity, social security cuts, and public service privatisation. But it has also demonstrated that public services and the people who operate them are truly the foundation of healthy and resilient societies. As privatisation...

In the face of climate catastrophe, mounting inequalities and growing democratic unrest, public services are more important than ever. Across the world, people are building better, more democratic and inclusive public services because privatisations are failing. Amsterdam is confronted with challenges comparable to those facing...

So far, children have featured in the pandemic discussion mostly in relation to the reopening of schools. Now that we know that public spaces can be rapidly transformed by collective action, we can start giving streets back to children. The author of this article puts...

The book Sharing Cities looks back at the creation of Sharing Cities, composed of fifty cities around the world that began mapping their shared resources in October and November 2013 during Shareable’s first annual #MapJam. This was just the beginning of the Sharing Cities Network...

Investment might be flowing into local areas but poverty and inequality persist. ‘New municipalism’ is a term that has emerged as an answer to improving local economic development. It is an approach that aims to build wealth in the community using local government procurement to...

Even before the coronavirus crisis, a key topic of debate among town planners was how to create a sustainable, healthy urban environment that is easy to get around by either walking or cycling. The idea of the 15-minute city. A concept developed by Sorbonne Professor...

‘Municipal politics’ may raise new types of demands crucial in organising powerful social movements and improving material conditions, while orienting us towards new understandings of what is possible. Photo: Toni Cuenca

Is the left today “woke,” i.e. is it self-consciously learning from the limits of the path it has been on to design a new systemic architecture based on alternative, networked institutions to challenge the status quo? New institutions are needed because in the past farms,...

In Europe, it is the cities that once again lead the way as places of radical innovation and democratic renewal – and provide answers to the challenges we face in our continent. Photo: Soloman Soh

In this interview Lucía Morale, advisor to the security department of Barcelona city council, about the specific features of the Catalan capital, explains why it is essential to build security policies that are both intersectional and global. She also tells us how, in the context...

This confrontation between cities and multinationals is a reflection of the increased pressures on local authorities and urban spaces since the 2008 financial crisis, including austerity and budget cuts, the financialisation of housing, overtourism that negatively impacting locals, and the targeting of cities by Big...

In the US, a new coalition of progressive forces is shaping up to protest views and policies deployed by president Trump. The articulation of forces against Trump. The municipal level is becoming a space for social resistance and political innovation, hence providing an opportunity for...