Housing
Andrew Berman, who has spent 25 years leading Village Preservation in New York City, on the tension between protecting Manhattan’s historic neighborhoods and making room for affordable housing
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Housing
What small changes by Killarney’s residents and local businesses can teach cities about becoming more autism-friendly
KILLARNEY, COUNTY KERRY, IRELAND
Housing
The Olivar de Castillejo, an ancient olive grove that nurtured the ideas of Spain's Silver Age, is now a remarkable setting for classical music in Madrid—and perhaps for intellectual debate once again
MADRID, SPAIN
Housing
Amid ineffective housing policies, civil society in Spanish cities is advancing innovative ownership models and other housing solutions that expand access to affordable housing
BARCELONA, SPAIN
Housing
Once seized by the Nazis and nearly lost to history, Max Liebermann House was reclaimed by citizens determined not to let his legacy disappear
BERLIN, GERMANY
Housing
As Londoners search for stillness, Christina McMaster's sound healing sessions turn Greenwich's Painted Hall into an unlikely sanctuary
LONDON, UK
Housing
One year after joining our series “The Housing Fix,” local campaigner Andreea reflects on the group’s recent victory over the Aylesham development plan
LONDON, UK
Housing
Backed by thousands of donors and volunteers, an independent cinema in Paris was saved from redevelopment and is now community-owned
PARIS, FRANCE
Housing
Every year, more than 1,000 volunteers from 120 grassroots groups help Paris produce a shared snapshot of homelessness to guide policy decisions
PARIS, FRANCE
Housing
Munich’s youngest museum engages with the social issues reflected in the contemporary art it houses
MUNICH, GERMANY
Housing
Inside the ancient stonemason workshop of Freiburg Cathedral, Germany, founded in the Middle Ages and still sustained by its citizens
FREIBURG IM BREISGAU, GERMANY
Housing
Drag queen Ava Hangar and her troupe are shattering the form’s conventions, returning to its activist origins for a new era of social impact in Italy
FLORENCE, METROPOLITAN CITY OF FLORENCE, ITALY
Housing
Beyond its walls, the Prado lives in everyday moments — and the museum now seeks stories through El Prado Cotidiano
MADRID, SPAIN
Housing
Federica Parretti, co-owner of Villa Il Palmerino in Florence, discusses the intellectual circle linked to the house that her artist grandparents bought from writer Vernon Lee
FLORENCE, METROPOLITAN CITY OF FLORENCE, ITALY
Housing
Without the support of Friends of Florence, much of the city’s cultural heritage would be at serious risk of decay
FLORENCE, METROPOLITAN CITY OF FLORENCE, ITALY
Housing
As the UK unveils its Good Food Framework, “Growing Communities” in Hackney, London, offers a proven alternative to the current industrialised food system
LONDON, UK
Housing
On the football field, coach Hippolyte Boumlag discusses his perspective on the immigration debate through the hard work of future football stars
MADRID, SPAIN
Housing
Once a month, a cultural salon takes place at publisher Samuel Fischer’s historic house in Berlin, where the spirit of art and literary works can still be felt
BERLIN, GERMANY
Housing
During a conversation with The Urban Activist, experts from the private sector, academia, and activism in Barcelona expose the roots of the housing crisis to seek solutions
BARCELONA, SPAIN
Housing
Meron Mendel and Saba-Nur Cheema have long fought racism against Muslims and Jews in German cities — with the war in Gaza and debate over Israel, they began confounding both sides
FRANKFURT AM MAIN, GERMANY
Housing
Monacensia Hildebrand’s house in Munich was a place for intellectuals, later swept out by the Nazis — it rebounded as the literary memory of the city and a refuge for writers
MUNICH, GERMANY
Housing
During an insightful roundtable with The Urban Activist, some voices in London spoke about council housing and delivered a clear message to solve the housing crisis
LONDON, UK
Housing
Film director Lara Izagirre engages with Roma women in a documentary blurring the line between realism and entertainment as part of a broader mission for social change
BILBAO, SPAIN
Housing
The ImperfectCity initiative uses the psychology of brutalist architecture to free young people from an unrealistic “culture of perfection” and help them thrive
AARHUS, DENMARK
Housing
London-based artist Hanna Benihoud seeks meaning in the mundane to elevate women in public space — transcending all boundaries
LONDON, UK
Housing
The Philharmonie de Paris has reached places and audiences where other concert halls in their temples have never been before — music is its language for social change
PARIS, FRANCE
Housing
While anti-Semitism permeates social networks, Munich Jews “ask people to talk to us, not about us” at daylight to dispel prejudice about Jewish life
MUNICH, GERMANY
Housing
There’s a personal dimension to Munich’s property ownership transformation that is crucial to providing affordable housing — yet mostly hidden behind the public anger
MUNICH, GERMANY
Housing
People living longer is a success of humanity, and as such, society should recognize the unique and significant value of old age
BARCELONA, SPAIN
Housing
Claudia Saam and Wolf-Rüdiger Baumann extensively researched their building’s former residents, most of them German Jews, and found their descendants abroad.
BERLIN, GERMANY
Housing
Chess activist Kineke Mulder shows us in Vienna how playing chess could help stem the tide of individualism and polarization in other cities, too
VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Housing
The nonprofit KulturRaum München enables access to culture for low income residents in Munich – but cultural participation often requires more than a free ticket
MUNICH, GERMANY
Housing
Italian rapper ‘Real’ sings about what some Italians don’t really want to hear – and that’s part of the problem
NAPLES, ITALY
Housing
Storytelling has the ability to change our emotional and social behavior; the project “Libraries on Prescription” in Greece explores its healing power
ATHENS, GREECE
Housing
It began with schools, and spread to the streets. Parents in towns of the Basque Country spearheaded joint initiatives to fight a phone-based childhood
BILBAO, SPAIN
Housing
Culture in Munich is mutating into new perspectives at Habibi Kiosk ; the success at its privileged location addresses difficult questions about the city
MUNICH, GERMANY
Housing
Guyanese Glenda Obermuller’s personal story led to the founding of the first Black Library in Cologne, Germany, the land of her great-grandfather
COLOGNE, GERMANY
Housing
In Berlin, the Israeli-Palestinian restaurant Kanaan achieves what currently seems impossible in its owners’ disputed homeland
BERLIN, GERMANY
Housing
The metal and rock community has the knack of making young people feel comfortable with themselves – and uses it to fight bullying in Oslo and beyond
OSLO, NORWAY
Housing
Born in Barcelona, Afro Brunch is filling venues with Afrobeats while elevating African culture with a new identity pride of a diverse society in Spain
BARCELONA, SPAIN
Housing
How the decentralizing "Uffizi Diffusi" initiative at the Florentine Gallery offers a healthier alternative to overtourism while reinvigorating the greater region
FLORENCE, METROPOLITAN CITY OF FLORENCE, ITALY
Housing
Instead of a Silicon Valley culture, Bologna has opted for a Mediterranean model for its innovation ecosystem with a strong social and environmental vocation
BOLOGNA, METROPOLITAN CITY OF BOLOGNA, ITALY
Housing
Our biggest urban challenges – environment, health, poverty – raise a key question: should manufacturing be brought back to the city?
LONDON, UK
Housing
Advocate Christoph Trautvetter has opened up a Pandora’s box of ownership structures in cities, paving the way for policy on affordable housing
BERLIN, GERMANY
Housing
As Russian bombs fall, Ukrainian artists have produced activist responses at the PinchukArtCentre Prize 2022 exhibition in Kyiv to stir pain empathy
KYIV, UKRAINE
Housing
Knife grinders withstand the disappearance of traditional workshops in Madrid and Barcelona — but craftsmanship could benefit cities and the planet.
BARCELONA, SPAIN
Housing
At this Museum nature and heritage are not explained to make us comfortable. Its honesty evokes active citizenship as people reckon with the exigencies of social justice and climate.
LONDON, UK
Housing
The director of the Berlin-Karlshorst Museum, formerly known as the Russian-German Museum, on its difficult task — and how neutrality no longer provides refuge for Russian culture in Berlin
BERLIN, GERMANY
Housing
Independent, online radio stations are finding ways to strengthen creative communities and promote unity from the grassroots in Amsterdam and in other Dutch cities.
AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
Housing
‘Vollpension’ is a particular coffee shop in Vienna that weaves together older and younger generations through baking. It provides an insight into the situation of the elderly in the city.
VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Housing
LGBTQ activists in Kyiv have made great progress on their rights. Now at war, they say information is being weaponized to shut them down.
KYIV, UKRAINE
Housing
How Brussels prescribes its own cultural gifts, urban privileges we may often take for granted or may not be able to afford, for a healthy community, a healthy city.
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
Housing
A Ukrainian curator, art historian and critic on how the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw changes its strategies to the current evils. And how the question of neutrality restrains others.
WARSAW, POLAND
Housing
A unique collaboration between the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid and its neighborhood, Lavapiés, questions the role of museums in relation to their surroundings
MADRID, SPAIN
Housing
The filmmaker based in Barcelona, Erika Lust, advocates for equal pleasure, a desire that could create more sexually healthy cities if it finds its way into the public space.
BARCELONA, SPAIN
Housing
“Let us share a secret: even if you feel like grabbing an axe and breaking stuff - you will eventually get over it.” It’s time to walk through the Museum of Broken Relationships, to overcome emotional collapse.
ZAGREB, CROATIA
Housing
The Museum of Egyptian Art was built where a monumental building for the Nazi Party was supposed to stand in Munich. Dealing with the past in public spaces is controversial in this city, but the museum hewed to its principles
MUNICH, GERMANY
Housing
Bristol is a one-off city, host to many progressive ideas by environmental and social conscious residents. The development of their own payment method ‘Bristol Pay’ could be an alluring alternative to Bristolians to build a green and fair economy for the city.
BRISTOL, UK
Housing
A network of worker delivery collectives across cities is racing to compete with global platforms and humanize the business model. The solution relies on platform cooperativism
PARIS, FRANCE
Housing
In Glasgow locals are opening their houses to non-profit for activists, scientists, or policymakers. The hosting platform called Human Hotel is expanding homesharing to unite people in cities for meaningful causes.
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
Housing
Top Manta is a brand created by undocumented people off the streets of Barcelona. Its existence dignifies the immigrant community and challenges the image of a tolerant and inclusive city.
BARCELONA, SPAIN
Housing
Ulme35 is a space of encounters between refugees and locals, powered by a welcoming culture in their neighbourhood to be envied in Berlin. A new Integration Hub will ensue.
BERLIN, GERMANY
Housing
The policy change affected by Las Kellys to restore the rights of chambermaids in Barcelona opens the debate about ethical tourism to reduce inequality in the city.
BARCELONA, SPAIN
Housing
Three hours of our time a month in a grocery store would reduce labour costs to charge lower prices. Food cooperatives called it a ‘virtuous cycle’. This is not volunteering, pure noble business, the in-kind pay is health.
MADRID, SPAIN
Housing
A grassroots movement in Spanish cities is documenting and safeguarding commercial signs of the most unique mom-and-pop shops and bars. This Graphic Heritage captures a disappearing world.
MADRID, SPAIN
Housing
Creative non-profit housing projects, which focus on cohesive societies, benefit the long-term health of neighbourhoods while offering affordable housing for future generations.
MUNICH, GERMANY
Housing
The initiative ‘hey’ at cafes in Munich encourages people in need to participate in the daily life of the city through free coffee and meals. In Covid-19 time cafes are getting the support back by an attempt to increase their sales.
MUNICH, GERMANY
Housing
The initiative Tranquil City maps tranquil spaces together with simplified datasets, such as noise and air pollution, to integrate them into various applications and promote healthier lifestyles in citizens.
LONDON, UK
Housing
‘So lonely’ is a compendium of artistic interventions in public spaces, which intends to listen to how citizens go about loneliness in Munich. All leads to a closing participatory theater to advance action against social isolation.
MUNICH, GERMANY
Housing
Clärchens Ballhaus will reopen soon in Berlin. Privately owned, it embodies the challenge of future cultural institutions in cities to engage with a diverse crowd.
BERLIN, GERMANY
Housing
Via ‘kippa parties’ and ‘tolerance encounters’, a Munich-based association weaves a network of enthusiasm and participation – one strong enough to defuse Jewish fears of anti-Semitism.
MUNICH, GERMANY
Housing
Chris Hildrey realized that by giving homeless people a proxy address at an early stage, it helps avoid entrenchment and get them back on their feet.
LONDON, UK
Housing
Kisdiófa Kert is an urban garden in Erzsébetváros neighbourhood, where citizens connect to each other building trust and supportive relationships in Budapest.
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
Housing
A remembrance photo project at public space in Weimar (Germany) confronts citizens with the city's history and invites them to pause and reflect.
WEIMAR, GERMANY
Housing
The Tucholsky bookstore in Berlin sells more than just books. Over the years, its owner, Jörg Braunsdorf, has created a community around culture for neighbours and regular customers who meet at the bookstore periodically. Culture has energized a collective force with the civil courage to face up to the far right in their neighbourhood towards ...
BERLIN, GERMANY
Housing
The K-Buurt or K-neighbourhood is located around Amsterdam-Zuidoost’s Kraaiennest subway station. This community in the suburbs of Amsterdam has demanded recognition from the city since they founded Hart voor de K-Buurt (Heart for the K-Neighbourhood), a local multicultural community network of neighbours who are finding consensus language to assert power over the future of its ...
AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
Housing
A group of students with different faiths have come together on the streets of Munich. They have seduced passersby with free hummus ice cream to start an open conversation and answer questions about their faiths at public space. There are three tables with signs, which read: ask a Muslim, a Jew or a Christian. The ...
MUNICH, GERMANY
Housing
Wednesdays volunteers meet at the city centre to distribute food, hygiene products and clothes. How they are tackling drug addiction in Oslo.
OSLO, NORWAY
Housing
It is 7:30 in the morning in Oslo. A strong wind and an intensive sun reflected on the white granite and Italian Carrara marble walls invade the roof of the Opera House. Energy concentrates in one space where a group of people practises Taijiquan thanks to Pamela Hiley. During the spring and summer months she ...
OSLO, NORWAY
Housing
The street art world is dominated by men. ‘Hands Off The Wall’ endeavours to change that, at least in Vienna. Female street artists have gathered around a street art festival to show their work, praise other women’s achievements and inspire girls to succeed. ‘Hands Off The Wall’ is Austria’s first street art and graffiti festival ...
VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Housing
Hip Hop is not just a musical genre, but a cultural movement which originated in the Bronx district of the city of New York in the 1970s and came with the Americans to Berlin. Ibo Omari, a citizen of Berlin, is a firm advocator of the Hip Hop culture, which he embraces in all social ...
BERLIN, GERMANY
Housing
What started as saving a sports ground, became one of the most inspiring projects to welcome refugees in the city centre of Munich. It is a great example of how to address the challenge of urban migration and how integration can actually work. Munich has been welcoming a significant number of refugees since the Syria ...
MUNICH, GERMANY
Housing
Marie Rolshoven, a cultural scientist, lives in Berlin in Schöneberg neighbourhood, which was once home to Jewish artists and intellectuals such as Albert Einstein. Moved by the fact that, twenty three former Jewish residents of her whole building were deported during the Nazi era, she wanted to keep the history of her neighbours alive. Inspired by the ...
BERLIN, GERMANY
Housing
From defending human rights in Guatemala to supporting Latina women victims of domestic violence in Philadelphia, her journey reveals the complexity of seeking justice
PHILADELPHIA, PA, USA
Housing
How Poet Laureate Trapeta B. Mayson is weaving poetry into Philadelphia’s mental health landscape to heal from gun violence
PHILADELPHIA, PA, USA
Housing
At Hull-House in Chicago, unlikely cultural encounters dissolved barriers of class and education, fostering social change and peace—then and now
CHICAGO, IL, USA
Housing
As New York City’s new mayor sets a housing agenda, we unpack the state of rent-stabilized apartments, explore ownership beyond “affordable renting,” and listen to small landlords’ realities
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Housing
Nearly 50% of New Yorkers speak a language other than English at home — and the Endangered Language Alliance is racing to preserve those at risk of extinction
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Housing
Dubbed the “White House of Exile,” the Thomas Mann House in Los Angeles sparks the same kinds of debates that once defined Mann’s era
LOS ANGELES, CA, USA
Housing
In the town where Driscoll’s took root, residents urge the berry giant to grow a new legacy — without pesticides and organic, near homes and schools
WATSONVILLE, CA, USA
Housing
Why Caron Morse and her South Portland, Maine, neighbors are giving their kids landlines instead of smartphones
PORTLAND, ME, USA
Housing
From Phoenix, Arizona, Maritza Félix uses local journalism to bring back dialogue, exposing the divided views of Latinos on deportation policy
PHOENIX, AZ, USA
Housing
Stepping into the home of minimalist artist Donald Judd in SoHo offers a reflection on why the house is preserved as it is — and the conversations it still sparks
NEW YORK CITY, NY, USA
Housing
As Los Angeles confronts inequality, extreme weather, and a housing crisis, activist Trinity Tran leads Public Bank LA to replace Wall Street finance and transform the city’s future
LOS ANGELES, CA, USA
Housing
While the US administration cuts funding for museums that tell the full American story, advocates in Brooklyn ask, “Can preserving Black histories end gentrification in their neighborhoods?”
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Housing
Artist Tonika Johnson’s work about racist housing practices in South Side Chicago has bridged the intellectual divide between art and urban policy – and found that home repairs can offset gentrification
CHICAGO, IL, USA
Housing
Without having to step foot inside, award-winning artist Sonya Clark’s new exhibit at Declaration House in Philadelphia engages passers-by with the entangled legacies of the United States’ founding
PHILADELPHIA, PA, USA
Housing
American society is in trouble – from school failure to an opioid crisis to gun violence. We need horizontal solutions like Thread to mend our fragile neighborhoods
BALTIMORE, MD, USA
Housing
A Palestine Museum in American suburbia sends a message to the world: through art perhaps we could all agree
NEW HAVEN, CT, USA
Housing
Parental incarceration leaves a legacy and contributes to overflowing US jails; one group of girls in New Orleans may break the chain
NEW ORLEANS, LA, USA
Housing
If cities want to crack affordable housing, Scott Kratz, director of the 11th Street Bridge Park, is the go-to for taking an honest approach on a contentious issue
WASHINGTON D.C., DC, USA
Housing
Founder Kerry Brodie on running cafés to train asylees’ culinary skills — and why creating opportunities is crucial in the midst of a migrant crisis in New York
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Housing
While his camera captures life and race in Baltimore, Devin Allen puts cameras into kids’ hands against gun violence — both in pursuit of social justice
BALTIMORE, MD, USA
Housing
Byron Nash on the Warhol Museum and opening minds to a new creative industry in Pittsburgh with the engagement of savvy digital youngsters
PITTSBURGH, PA, USA
Housing
A sailing program on the Hudson River by a group of amateur sailors can reduce inequality for students in public schools in Manhattan
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Housing
While wealth inequality persists, the banking cooperative Brooklyn Coop has become a pillar for the local economy and prosperity of its community
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Housing
Lorelei Bandrovschi, founder of alcohol-free Listen Bar, on creating a space for sober curiosity and showing New Yorkers fun is still possible
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Housing
While some may feel a homeless person should be barred from possessing pets, the reality is far different
CARSON CITY, NV, USA
Housing
Tyde-Courtney Edwards’ mission to “repurpose ballet” for women and youth survivors strengthens community response to violence in Baltimore
BALTIMORE, MD, USA
Housing
Award-winning poet Chisara Asomugha on the creation of the first library of poetry in Los Angeles and how poetry spaces humanize us
LOS ANGELES, CA, USA
Housing
Filled with all sorts of ephemera, Interference Archive encourages social engagement through the cultural production of social movements
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Housing
Transforming an old building could reverse years of environmental injustice. Would the city of Minneapolis rise to this “now or never” moment?
MINNEAPOLIS, MN, USA
Housing
No longer feeling lost for being sober. Why joining the Boston Bulldogs Running Club can be a lifesaving decision in the drug addiction crisis.
BOSTON, MA, USA
Housing
Not far from Harvard, where a study on economic mobility suggests the rich and poor should socialise more, an unconventional gym is a living proof
BOSTON, MA, USA
Housing
How a Motel 6 in Oakland has become a progressive response to a homeless crisis.
OAKLAND, CA, USA
Housing
This museum’s work supports a diversity of thought through art, including a rethinking of the definition of a museum
LOS ANGELES, CA, USA
Housing
A revolutionary show, curated by security staff, spotlights the commitment of the museum to be more representative of the community it serves.
BALTIMORE, MD, USA
Housing
The Cossitt Library in Memphis might be almost 130 years old; yet, it is one of the most innovative in the US. Its latest renovation will unite the city in ways beyond a dedication to the written word.
MEMPHIS, TN, USA
Housing
How a grassroots idea becomes a cultural institution and a community weaving a tapestry of untold and neglected histories the city prefers to keep private.
TULSA, OK, USA
Housing
Lee Mingwei has transgressed the walls of museums. His participatory art provokes human connectedness among strangers. These moments of change are evidence of how museums could embrace new approaches to advance social value.
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Housing
Peacebuilders Skye Roper-Moses and Michelle V. Jackson recognized the unique position that community gardens have to flourish deeply rooted urban conflicts in neighbourhoods. They support community gardener efforts by using their training in conflict resolution.
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Housing
Decades of housing shortage has submerged Los Angeles in a humanitarian and sustainability crisis in the midst of extreme weather. But a growing group of volunteer Angelenos are building the movement to house LA and reverse climate change.
LOS ANGELES, CA, USA
Housing
Black capitalism was born out of resilient African-Americans left with no other choice than to support each other to thrive. Years later it could be the answer to the troubles of some US cities. For the benefit of all.
TULSA, OK, USA
Housing
The struggle of Afro-Americans venting their stories in the white context of cities keeps feeding their trauma. The initiative “Witness to History” restores untold stories of slavery in its town as a precondition for healing.
GUILFORD, CT, USA
Housing
Mitchell Borden, founder of legendary Smalls and Fat Cat clubs, and his wife, jazz musician Rie Yamaguchi-Borden, hold on to the unifying power of music to revive the jazz community and local businesses of New York.
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Housing
The idea of a Social Club in New York’s subway recognises the mass transit system as much more of a comfortable public space rather than as a means of transport. A holistic approach can make passengers return.
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Housing
The first statue of real women at Central Park has been installed after 167 years of the park's history thanks to female activists. Another historical moment into untapped women’s history.
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Housing
Chiene Jones, awarded 2020 Jr. Knicks Coach of the Year, is determined to use basketball to create powerful future women, specially in underserved urban communities.
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Housing
Residents, local organizations and public spaces like Morningside park play a central role in creating a common ground for strong communities to reduce violence.
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Housing
The Mayor of Tulsa met community activists this week and agreed on specific steps to address police violence and social injustice in the black communities of the city.
TULSA, OK, USA
Housing
As the State drops the ball on Mexico’s missing persons crisis, civil society takes the field in search of the disappeared—enough to fill the stadium that hosted the World Cup opener
MEXICO CITY, CDMX, MEXICO
Housing
Indigenous leader Milvian Aspuac is championing collective intellectual property rights for Mayan designs as a path to Indigenous women’s economic autonomy
SANTIAGO SACATEPéQUEZ, GUATEMALA
Housing
Known as Toronto’s first “social medicine house,” Dunn House treats homelessness as a medical issue — integrating it directly into patient care
TORONTO, ON, CANADA
Housing
Back in January, we reported on those in the music scene defying Iran’s cultural red lines. Now, living through war, we speak to them again about whether change in Iran still feels possible
TEHRAN, TEHRAN PROVINCE, IRAN
Housing
Built from one man’s lifelong devotion to collecting, the museum at Heritage Village in Dammam stands as a testament to memory in a transforming Saudi Arabia
DAMMAM SAUDI ARABIA
Housing
Despite extraordinary adversity, audiences attended the Nablus premiere of Palestine 36 in the West Bank, while a Jerusalem screening was raided — an event that has only echoed the film’s central argument
NABLUS
Housing
Despite risks and canceled public concerts, organizers, artists and DJs—from Iranian folk to Western techno—keep music alive at secluded events in Tehran
TEHRAN, TEHRAN PROVINCE, IRAN
Housing
Jewish-Israeli activist Noam Shuster Eliassi left the UN peace diplomacy program to become a standup comedian — now a film shows how she uses laughter to meet the pain
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL
Housing
In Cairo, it is easy to see the actual issue behind the global housing crisis: the need for fair distribution
CAIRO, EGYPT
Housing
Two years ago, I moved from Europe to Bethlehem, to support artists to stay and create — essential to resilience here in the West Bank
BETHLEHEM
Housing
After years of conflict, Juba’s youth take to the streets with theater to bridge ethnic divides — placing culture at the heart of nation-building in South Sudan
JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
Housing
Local voices around Elmina Castle and its Door of No Return have long-preserved stories that are now reshaping slave trade history
ELMINA, GHANA
Housing
Lea Baroudi, founder of March Lebanon, unites former rival fighters to rebuild their lives—showing how governments could prevent conflict rooted in identity
TRIPOLI, LEBANON
Housing
A longing music scene has risen from the underground in Saudi cities, poised to create noise for Saudis to be themselves and inspire future generations
RIYADH SAUDI ARABIA
Housing
Restorers and volunteers have united forces to rescue the An-Nasr Mosque in Nablus in the occupied West Bank, where the destruction of cultural heritage goes with impunity
NABLUS
Housing
Many young African talents fall victim to human trafficking in football; however, ‘the beautiful game’ could be a real game-changer in African cities
LAGOS, NIGERIA
Housing
In the town of Bolgatanga in northern Ghana, its local museum is part of the curriculum at schools, and students are cultural ambassadors
BOLGATANGA, GHANA
Housing
In a male-dominated profession, Rania Moualla is the female force behind the first Saudi Culinary Arts Academy, training male and female chefs and using food as a vehicle for change
AL KHOBAR SAUDI ARABIA
Housing
Social entrepreneur Leila Ben Gacem runs two boutique hotels in the Medina of Tunis, supporting young Tunisians and restoring the old city to its past glory
TUNIS, TUNISIA
Housing
A revolution in city planning that gives an address to households in informal settlements could unlock the potential of their residents and create employment
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
Housing
Volunteers in Cairo are racing against time to preserve the city's historical memory while bulldozers demolish parts of the City of the Dead to construct new highways
CAIRO, EGYPT
Housing
Ramallah, under occupation in the West Bank, faces the same challenges of an aging population as other cities – but has a different solution that transcends generations
RAMALLAH
Housing
This is a story of how two young men, born into occupation and poverty, were able to use their own bodies as tools of liberation – and how, through my work, I was privileged to help them speak to the world.
KHAN YOUNIS
Housing
Not everything in Yemen is war; in the city of Ta’izz, writers and poets encourage dialogue, understanding and unity through arts
TAIZZ, YEMEN
Housing
In basements, community spaces, and online, some girls are finding safe places to continue their education in Kabul, Kandahar, and across Afghanistan
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
Housing
Bookshop owner, Mahmoud Muna, on creating a safe place of discomfort invested in Palestinian culture as a way to define a new future in East Jerusalem
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL
Housing
A new generation of literacy activists are decolonizing public libraries in Nairobi – from the space to the language represented on its shelves
NAIROBI, KENYA
Housing
Espacio Circulante is a place conjured up by women of various gender identities, who practice shamanism and urban healing in Valparaiso, Chile
VALPARAíSO, CHILE
Housing
How a group of women in Freetown refuses to be silenced after sunset and expands women’s rights to participate in society in Sierra Leone fully
FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE
Housing
The misuse of religion is central to the practice of Claudia Barbera that is both artwork and a ritual against domestic violence in her city and beyond
VALPARAíSO, CHILE
Housing
As the fight over women’s rights rages on in Mexico, the activist Cynthia Híjar draws upon feminist standup comedy in the big city
MEXICO CITY, CDMX, MEXICO
Housing
How delivery riders in Bangkok have ditched algorithms for the human touch of an alternative system.
BANGKOK, THAILAND
Housing
Banu Pekol’s devotion to peacebuilding takes a nontraditional approach: the safeguarding of multicultural heritage to mend historical wounds among urban communities. She believes the lack of respect towards heritage in urban development reveals the cities’ approach to individual freedoms.
İSTANBUL, TURKEY
Housing
In Rabat, Théâtre Aquarium creates a space to stimulate unprecedented public debates on female freedom and support a sexual revolution which is otherwise happening underground.
RABAT, MOROCCO
Housing
2 friends, 200 volunteers, 817 homes restored in Beirut so far. The initiative Bebw’shebbek has found an alternative expression to unfold in a scarred urban landscape and induce hope.
BEIRUT, LEBANON
Housing
Super Chefs are a group of women in Cairo, whose passion for cooking has found a way to stay employed while saving time for other working mothers. The idea is here to stay.
CAIRO, EGYPT
Housing
Over the years the jazz dancers of Santa Amalia have forged a dancing community in their neighbourhood that has become a philosophy of life in Havana.
HAVANA, CUBA
Housing
In South African cities a long tradition of community-based paralegal offices operating from garages, churches, and schools provide equal access to justice and real hope to thrive in low-income neighbourhoods.
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
Housing
A group of bold and strong women called the Cycling Geckos are on their bikes through Cairo to break social barriers, which prevent other women from achieving their full potential. They fight for a cultural change to redesign Cairo’s human landscape towards women.
CAIRO, EGYPT
Housing
The programming at Cinema Akil is meticulously chosen by a strong feminist voice, which uses the impact of media culture to raise awareness on Dubai’s society about worldwide critical issues and human values.
DUBAI - UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Housing
Women in New Delhi are sharing their feelings of insecurity at particular public spaces. Key urban stakeholders are listening to improve safety conditions in the city.
NEW DELHI, DELHI, INDIA
Housing
Abdulmalik Sultan Al Maskari, one of Oman’s most recognisable graffiti artist, has been finding legal ways to pursue his passion for street art, which has always been prohibited in public spaces in Muscat. By painting in legal spaces like old busses and old houses he and other street artists are slowly unleashing the street art ...
MUSCAT, OMAN
Housing
‘Not all who wander are lost’, reads the display with the maps of the Alserkal Avenue located in Al Quoz neighbourhood in Dubai. Alserkal Avenue was an industrial area that has been converted in 2007 into a cultural district of contemporary art galleries, creative businesses and non-profit organizations spread across 500,000 square feet. Here you ...
DUBAI - UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Housing
‘The Rebel Riot’ is not just a local punk band with politically charged songs, dealing with human right violations. Expressing themselves through music is not enough. This band mobilizes a whole punk community to cook fresh food and distribute it to homeless people every week in Yangon (Myanmar), a movement called ‘Food Not Bombs’. They ...
YANGON, MYANMAR (BURMA)
Housing
Ali Al-Moussawi’s passion for books goes beyond reading. He has developed the first city library on wheels in Baghdad. His main goal is to revive a love for books and to encourage the culture of reading in the city. Baghdad, once the literary and cultural capital of the Muslim world, is now better known for bombs than poems: “With ...
BAGHDAD, IRAQ
