About the Network

Cities across the globe have faced a deepening crisis of urban inequality and social injustice over the past few decades. These challenges have been further intensified by the impacts of the climate crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and growing economic instability. In the Mediterranean region, such global dynamics intersect with region-specific challenges, creating complex and urgent issues for cities to address.

Cities in the region have been struggling to respond to the changing climate (e.g. extreme heat events during summer months), the impact of forcedly displaced populations (particularly from conflict-affected zones), patterns of production and consumption tied to late capitalism (e.g. extensive farming, overtourism, pollution), accelerated digitalization and datafication in urban governance (e.g. digital exclusion of certain groups, algorithmic decision-making in welfare distribution), and increasing geopolitical tensions together with their economic implications.

These multiple crises have increasingly deprived urban residents of basic human rights: access to affordable and dignified housing, quality public services such as education, healthcare, and welfare; and the ability to lead fulfilling everyday lives. In response and following the notion of the right to the city, communities and individuals are taking action in diverse ways, from widespread protests to grassroots initiatives; and matters of inequality and social justice have become a fundamental aspect of urban politics. Both the challenges and the responses position questions of social justice and inequality at the heart of contemporary urban everyday life, politics, and policies.

Just City by the Med Research Network brings together researchers interested in investigating social injustice and inequality in a contemporary urban context; and exploring actions, approaches, and pathways towards just urban futures, specifically within the fast-evolving context of the Mediterranean.