The Urban History Group Annual Conference

2nd-3rd April 2009, University of Warwick

This conference will explore the concept of urban crises at a variety of scales. The theme is interpreted broadly to encompass not only those crises relating to urban growth, but also the way that individuals and institutions in cities experience and manage such events. It also invites papers that seek to explore the way that crises can generate new opportunities in the urban context.

Until relatively recently, historians have primarily considered cities in the context of growth – in relation to population increase, economic expansion and opportunity, political freedoms, social liberation and cultural formation. As recent events in the global economy have highlighted, however, growth is not necessarily always the case. Downturns in economic activity, shifts in the organisational structure of capitalism, changes and restrictions in personal freedoms, and cultural conservatism at times have been as important in structuring cities and urban life. How have these crises impacted on cities and what role have cities played in generating these crises? What opportunities arise in the wake of crises? What kinds of institutional arrangements emerged to manage such crises and how effective have they been in responding to the changes they faced? How have individuals experienced those crises and in what way have they responded both as individuals and collectivities? What forms of assistance and institutions developed to manage such a range of personal crises?

Registration and programme details

Contact details:

Centre for Urban History
University of Leicester
Marc Fitch House
3-5 Salisbury Road
Leicester, LE1 7QR  – UK
t: +44 (0)116 252 2378
f: +44 (0)116 252 5769
E-mail: cuh@le.ac.uk