From 2 to 5 September 2026, Barcelona will host the 17th Conference of the European Association for Urban History – EAUH, dedicated to the theme “City Networks in Europe and Beyond”.
The chosen theme highlights the strategic role that urban networks have played, and continue to play, in shaping European history and the relationships between Europe and the wider world. Through their economic, political, social, cultural, and spatial connections, cities have acted as fundamental nodes in the definition of territorial balances, often exerting an influence equal to or greater than that of states.
Barcelona offers a particularly meaningful setting for this reflection: a Mediterranean city with a long historical tradition, a major medieval centre, a protagonist of industrial development, and a key node in networks linking European, Mediterranean, Atlantic, and colonial cities.
The conference aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue among urban history, geography, urban planning, architecture, heritage studies, museum studies, and the humanities and environmental sciences, while emphasizing the contribution of historical research to the understanding of urban transformations and to the protection of contemporary democratic culture.
The conference programme includes 100 sessions, organised as main sessions, specialist sessions, and roundtables, grouped into thematic clusters designed to encourage scholarly exchange among researchers and participants.
The main deadlines indicated by the organisers are:
- standard registration: by 17 July 2026;
- paper submission: by 7 August 2026;
- conference: 2–5 September 2026;
- visits in Barcelona and Catalonia: 6 September 2026.
AISU is pleased to draw the attention of its scholarly community to this important international event, which offers a significant opportunity for discussion on urban history, city networks, and the transformation of urban space from a historical perspective.
Further information is available on the official conference website:
https://www.eauhbarcelona2026.eu/
