The research group on Creativity, Innovation and Urban Transformation (CRIT) promotes interdisciplinary research in urban studies and is formed by sociologists, economists, fine arts researchers, and anthropologists. It promotes research in three main areas: a) urban governance and involvement of citizens in policy-making and urban development; b) local welfare and inequalities, including research on education, housing, and exclusion; and c) economic, environmental, and social transformations of cities and regions and combinations of (and conflicts between) economic growth, social inclusion, and sustainability.
Currently, the research group is developing two project ECOSOCITIES (2022-2025) aims to understand how city strategies for growth and cohesion are being reframed in Southern European cities in the context of the COVID-19 crisis and the need to cope with environmental challenges. The project analyses cities from Spain and Portugal, including Barcelona, Bilbao, Sevilla, and Porto, and focuses on two intertwined aspects: the development of recovery agendas and strategies and the role of civil society actors in the development of new views and socially innovative initiatives to cope with the ecological crisis and social justice.
Another project in the research group is Rev-Ter Revive the rooftops, a project developed with the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) whose aim is to improve the quality of life of communities and people who live in cities in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area, from the perspective of active, healthy aging.
