Urban Studies Lab

The Urban Studies Lab (USL) is a transdisciplinary research laboratory based in Architecture at the University of Manchester, led by Prof Deljana Iossifova.  

Research at USL focuses on urban systems as dynamic, socio-material entanglements shaped by everyday practices, power relations, and governance structures. Understanding and addressing the inequalities and vulnerabilities inherent in these systems requires context-sensitive, participatory, and transdisciplinary approaches, grounded in principles of sustainability and justice. 

We bring spatial thinking and expertise to studies of urban everyday life, social practices, and the cultures, natures, infrastructures, and architectures that condition the contemporary and future urban. Integrating decolonial methodologies into research and teaching, we critically interrogate entrenched inequalities in the processes of urbanisation and urban transformation to inform urban interventions and create meaningful impact in diverse urban contexts.