Abstract
Realising Just Cities is a 4-year international collaborative programme (2016–2019) designed and delivered by the Mistra Urban Futures centre. The programme aims to co-produce knowledge and action to support more sustainable urban
transformations in different urban contexts in the Global North and South.
Mistra Urban Futures’ distinctive approach has been to create platforms for organising knowledge from different urban
stakeholders to support sustainable transitions. These Local Interaction Platforms (LIPs) are based in Gothenburg,
Skåne, Kisumu, Cape Town and Sheffield-Manchester.
Realising Just Cities UK (RJC UK) is hosted by the Sheffield-Manchester LIP, led by the Urban Institute at the University of
Sheffield with colleagues across the Faculty of Social Sciences. It is a partnership between scholars, activists, residents,
policy-makers, social enterprises and community organisations working to support progressive social, economic and
environmental change.
Our programme of research and action seeks to test and learn about how co-production can help realise more just cities:
by working with residents, activists and communities; exploring municipal co-production; and reflecting on necessary
changes in the practices, processes and sites of knowledge production. The University team involved 13 people,
including PhD students, working with hundreds of co-researchers in different organisations and settings.
This report showcases work undertaken by the team in Sheffield and Greater Manchester (GM) since 2016, when the
University of Sheffield became the host of the SMLIP. The programme had started in Greater Manchester in 2012, where
many of the activities have continued. Over time, new projects and comparative work have taken place locally in Sheffield.
We have undertaken a diverse range of projects and activities, of different sizes and durations. Our projects have
developed in various ways—some have been designed collaboratively with international partners and then localised
with partners on the ground; other projects have responded to local needs and developed from beginning to end with
local stakeholders. Some have been more “co-productive” than others.
