Urbs: The Body of the City
Urbs: The Body of the City
Curator and moderator: João Seixas
What kind of body does a city have? What elements compose it and how does it evolve and transform? Does the way urban spaces and systems are structured affect society, the economy, and the rights of each collective? Today we face an urban complexity that is difficult to perceive and manage. Decades of urban growth, concentration of companies and large shopping centres, financial speculation, and precarious housing are reshaping the function and mobility of the city and urban rights themselves. The new nature of the city emerges as a sum of varied, hyperconnected spaces, and experiences, yet often lacking consistency. Faced with these challenges, how can we reorganise urban structures to make daily life more lived and shared? We address these questions with urban planner Salvador Rueda, from the Fundación de Ecologia Urbana y Territorial, Barcelona, and Mário Alves, an expert in transport and urban mobility.
4 FEB 7:00 p.m.
Urbs: The Body of the City
Patrícia Melo, Salvador Rueda
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What kind of body does a city have? What elements compose it and how does it evolve and transform? Does the way urban spaces and systems are structured affect society, the economy, and the rights of each collective? Faced with these challenges, how can we reorganise urban structures to make daily life more lived and shared?
25 FEB 7:00 p.m.
Civitas: The Flows of the City
Fátima Vieira, Richard Sennett
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The city is a strong network of millions of ties – fragile ties – because they are human. What strengthens, or on the other hand, what weakens the ties between the population in a city? What elements and conditions allow for the formation of heterogeneous, dynamic, and tolerant urban communities, especially in the face of the current crisis of urbanism and unequal access to housing and the city itself?
11 MAR 7:00 p.m.
Polis: The Politics of the City
Paola Viganò, João Ferrão
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What new public spaces and vehicles of representation, social action, and political affirmation are needed for the cities of the future? A debate with architect Paola Viganò and geographer João Ferrão.
04 FEB 2026
WED 19:00
Free admission*
Duration 2h
*By pre-booking or collecting your ticket 15 minutes before the event (limited to the venue's to capacity).
On the day of the event, pre-bookings that have not been collected will be made available 15 minutes before the start of the event.
In Portuguese and Spanish
For personal reasons, Patrícia Melo will be unable to attend. The conference will feature Mário Alves, an expert in the fields of transport and urban mobility.
BIOGRAPHIES
Salvador Rueda is an urban planner and urban ecologist at the Fundación de Ecología Urbana y Territorial in Barcelona. Since 2000, he has been Director of the Urban Ecology Agency, focusing on urban ecology and sustainability. He is the creator of several concepts and projects on ecosystem-based urbanism, including the well-known “super-illes” and ecological neighbourhoods. He is the author of several books on ecosystem planning and ecological urbanism.
Mário J. Alves is an internationally recognised expert in the fields of transport and urban mobility. Throughout his career, he has coordinated mobility plans, acted as an advisor to various European institutions, been a member of the Scientific Committee for the Walk21 conference programme, and served as National Coordinator for the COST Pedestrian Quality Needs Action. He is regularly invited by the European Commission to act as an expert on energy, mobility, and transport issues. He was also invited by the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne to join the Spacewatch panel of experts, responsible for advising the Swiss authorities. He currently serves as Secretary-General of the International Federation of Pedestrians and regularly publishes articles, as well as giving numerous presentations and seminars on various topics related to sustainable urban mobility.
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