There is general agreement that health research should be inclusive but who is actually making it happen, and how? Anna Coleman, Joanne Elliott and Arpana Verma, members of the MUI Health and Wellbeing Research Challenge area, share learning from building a...

Who gets a say in how urban transport is planned and operated? Emma Tsoneva and Karen Lucas reflect on the conference, Addressing Transport Inequalities in Global South Cities co-hosted by Manchester Urban Institute in May 2026.    Closing the mobility gap for...

There is a lot of discussion about young people's mental health, but these topics are discussed with young people far less frequently. Yet who better to understand the pressures, challenges and sources of support shaping young people's wellbeing than those who...

As geopolitical tensions intensify, cities are increasingly emerging as key arenas where global rivalries are both shaped and contested. In this context, Seth Schindler reports on the conference Second Cold War Cities: Geopolitics and Urbanization in the 21st Century,...

Cities are increasingly shaped by complex political, social and economic tensions that challenge traditional ideas of who governs and whose knowledge counts. Using a recent Greater Manchester by-election as a starting point, Joe Ravetz explores the changing landscape...

As inflation rates ease and policymakers declare the end of the cost-of-living crisis, quieter challenges are taking hold in cities like Manchester. For households on local wages, the real issue is not just whether food prices are rising, but which foods are...

When Daniela Cocco Beltrame travelled to Rabat for the 2025 International Sociological Association Forum, she encountered an academic gathering that offered far more than formal sessions: moments of surprise, creative expression, and critical exchange revealed the...

Every autumn the University of Manchester slowly awakes from hibernation and lumbers into the new academic year. This awakening is accompanied by the springtime optimism of new beginnings, even as darkness descends on the city in the afternoons. Fresh-faced students...

MUI PGR Maria Hernandez-Montilla reflects on her experience at the 5th ISA Forum of Sociology earlier in the year and discovers some unexpected links between researching rural and urban policy. As part of MUI's commitment to supporting early stage researchers, several...

PhD students, Arielle Lawson, Ellie Barker, Sandhya Sharma, Philippa Winship and Shengjun Zhang share their experience collaborating with local community groups to organise a series of film screenings on 'social justice and the city' (funded by the Interdisciplinary...