Identities, citizenship and power in the cities

In this introduction to selected papers from the Tenth Urban Change and Conflict Conference (UCC), held at Royal Holloway University of London in September 1995, we offer some thoughts on the contemporary health of urban studies, UCC conferences have always been characterised by their commitment to analysing the social relations of (political) oppression and domination which underpin the dynamics of cities, This has entailed some commitment to political economy yet, in recent years, the so-called 'interpretative' turn has challenged the relevance of political economy approaches to the study of cities, However, the papers presented at the Tenth UCC conference point towards the importance of (re)engaging with political economy and with recognising the ways in which a political economy of urbanism is able to capture the complexities of contemporary social and economic life.