Creating healthy and sustainable cities. Sharing research, exploring policies and practices

Abstract

The 2025 European Urban Research Association (EURA) conference in Bristol focused on “Creating Healthy and Sustainable Cities,” highlighting urgent urban crises such as climate change, social inequality, technological transition, and declining trust in governance. Bristol’s civic activism and sustainability leadership – illustrated by its 2015 European Green Capital award and the One City Approach – made it an apt host. EURA 2025 combined research and practice through plenaries, parallel sessions, networking, and mobile workshops, emphasizing solutions and transferable lessons from global cities. Key plenaries, led predominantly by women, addressed critical debates in urban studies, including the clash between speculative housing markets and the right to healthy homes, youth-centred planning, citizen participation, and the institutional capacity to implement sustainability visions.