Urbis Research Forum

The Urbis Research Forum is an informal space for diverse discussions exploring urban issues.

Established in the summer of 2009, the forum is not-for-profit and brings together anyone interested in cities and urban life. The Urbis Research Forum links people together by hosting regular meetings in Manchester for those who live in cities, people who work trying to design, manage and improve them and people who study or analyse them.

Forum activities include talks, roundtable discussions, walks and special events. The meetings will be based around an inclusive and supportive dialogue with topics including, but not limited to, urban planning, history, culture, design and society. The Urbis Research Forum also encourages dialogue about the past, present and future of Greater Manchester. The proceedings will be published online through the Urbis Research Forum Review (ISSN: 2042-034X)

Each Forum session is free and there is no need to book.

Thank You & Goodbye, 12 July 2011

All good things come to an end – or at least they go into hibernation, as is the case the Urbis Research Forum. After two years of discussions, panels, walks and talks, the Urbis Research Forum is winding down. Although our last session “Faith in the City” was held on 22 June, 2011, the Urbis Research Forum archive will still be available to view and download on our website (www.urbisresearchforum.org.uk). This includes editions of the Urbis Research Forum Review, our selection of podcasts and the details of each session we’ve held.

The Urbis Research Forum began in the summer of 2009 at the Urbis centre. Its aim was to provide a space were academics, professionals and the public could meet to discuss urban culture and city life. We’ve had architects, activists, geographers, police, philosophers, bar owners, community groups and artists (among others) participate. It’s been fascinating, involving, sometimes heated and always enjoyable.

The Urbis Research Forum was non-profit and was only made possible by those willing to volunteer their time to offer support, advice and to help organise sessions. Julian Holloway, Andrew Karvonen and Mark Jayne are due massive thanks for their continued input. A thank-you also goes to Joanna Hodge and Leif Jerram for organising sessions and to Andy Brydon at Curated Place (www.curatedplace.com) for producing our podcasts. The mightily talented graphic designers Kirstin McKechnie (www.kirstinmckechnie.com) and Liam Palmer (www.liampalmer.co.uk) created our logos and banners. In 2010 the Urbis centre closed and the Urbis Research Forum relocated to theUniversity of Manchester. We’d like to thank Therese Lawlor-Wright for making this transition possible.

We’d also like to thank everyone who participated and everyone who came along to the sessions, whether at Urbis or the University of Manchester. It’s been a good two years and we hope we’ve offered something both interesting and valuable. As the website and archive will be available, we’re not completely closing shop and there’s always the possibility for more activity in the future. In the meantime it’s worth checking out other urban related research projects in Manchester, including the Cities@Manchester initiative at theUniversity of Manchester.