Welcome to CURB

Curb[kurb]: the edge or margin of a road, the limit of a thoroughfare. Those urban centres where the majority of national and global populations live, the everyday, ordinary, in-between and outwith.

CURB focuses on ‘majority-urban’ centres (the kinds of urban settlement where most people live) of all sizes to provide a space for discussion, action and research to inform and improve places for people. Our work covers a wide range of areas but with a particular emphasis on:

Urban political life and policy
Crime, social disorder and insecurity
Social life, culture and consumption in city spaces
Urban design and planning

CURB was created in order to bring together key academics with established profiles in urban research and analysis at the University of York. Instigated at a time of major social upheaval and crisis that is already impacting upon urban centres and populations globally, CURB aligns critical urban research with advanced teaching on cities.

The Centre for Urban Research seeks to be a critical observatory, tracking important changes and developments in urban and regional economies, societies and environments in order to identify and examine the issues likely to become key challenges in the near future. A program of frequent events provide forums for diverse communities, policy-makers and academic colleagues to exchange ideas and present developments cutting-edge urban research.

CURB aims to provide a means whereby academic research and analysis can be applied to promote incisive thinking and action around urban social problems.