SLU Urban Futures

SLU Urban Futures is a strategic platform that develops and strengthens transdisciplinary research, education and collaboration in sustainable urban development.

Thematic areas

UrbanScapes - thematic focus areas

SLU Urban Futures wants to transcend historically established and institutionally anchored boundaries between research disciplines and societal areas. To address urban issues from multiple perspectives, we need new approaches. That is why we have introduced the thematic areas UrbanScapes.

Living Labs

SLU Urban Futures work with Living Labs

SLU Urban Futures works with the concept of Living Labs - a place and a learning arena for different actors to jointly test, understand and develop solutions for complex challenges. The purpose of living labs is to experiment with new processes and methods that would otherwise be difficult to implement in conventional urban environments.

Webbinarium

Extreme heat in cities – a growing threat to public health

During the third webinar in the series “Venue: Urban Landscapes,” researchers and urban developers discussed how climate-adapted urban planning can help mitigate the effects of extreme heat in our cities.

News from SLU Urban Futures

  • 2025-06-27

    New alliances with sites

    The symposium Feminist ÉLAN – Designing Landscapes in the Anthropocene represents a week-long program at WIA – Women in Architecture Festival in Berlin. Nina Vogel got invited to present her project ‘From Basement to Kitchen - growing visions for the future of the Swedish Million Programme areas’.
  • 2025-06-24

    SLU highlights critical perspectives on environmental psychology at international conference

    From 15 to 18 June, SLU took part in the International Conference on Environmental Psychology (ICEP 2025). More than 600 participants explored one of the most pressing issues of our time: how people’s experience of place is shaped by climate change, urban development, health, and social change.
  • 2025-06-23

    Calling researchers and practitioners: Apply by June 30 for our Futuring Masterclass

    As cities around the world grapple with climate change, social inequality, and rapid urbanization, the push toward more sustainable and just urban futures have never been more urgent. Yet many dominant visions – like the much-hyped ‘smart city’ – remain steeped in techno-utopian ideals.
  • 2025-06-05

    Futuring in practice – Rosengård's farming project takes the next step

    Future work, or futuring, is about imagining and planning for potential future scenarios. But more than defining the most accurate future, it is about creating a common understanding and a common language for the challenges and opportunities of the future – and bringing people together.
  • 2025-06-05

    The book Prototypa! – now available in English

    The book "Prototyping! Building places together" is now available in English to download as a pdf.
More news

Upcoming events

All upcoming events

Follow us on LinkedIn

Follow us on LinkedIn and discuss current issues regarding the sustainable cities of the future.
SLU Urban Futures at LinkedIn

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Stay updated about upcoming webinars, calls and projects in sustainable urban development at SLU.
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On Instagram, we share current events within the platform.
SLU Urban Futures on Instagram

Urbanscapes

Learn more about our thematic work with urbanscapes on our external website.
Urbanscapes web