Cities for Recovery is a group of researchers and/or activists dedicated to discuss and promote the role of cities and their communities in times of economic and social transition. Its mission is to provide support and advice to the diverse actors in the city, especially local communities, mainly by disseminating their projects, with the double purpose of qualifying civic participation in cities and reflecting on good practices in the cities and the future of citizenship.

Cities for Recovery emerged from the recognition that civil society needs to organize itself at local scales (the street, neighborhood or city) to reflect on its collective future, when confronted with new paradigms and the emergency of a financial, economic and social crisis with deep impacts on people’s lives.

It also appears as an acknowledgement that, despite the incipient, fragile and ephemeral nature of many urban civic movements, their resilience and consistency justify greater attention, proximity and engagement.

Finally, it thrives on the great potential of cities to promote new forms of economic, social and spatial development, but it accepts that this demands the mobilization and alignment of the available energies, as well as the definition of new public arenas (real and virtual) of encounter, reflection and action.