A delegation of researchers from the Universities of Palermo and Naples, together with the project expert, participated in the EURA 2025 Annual Conference “Creating healthy and sustainable cities” (Bristol, UK, 10–13 June 2025) to disseminate the project “Mapping the new Spatial Inequalities within Southern European Cities”.

During the conference, the team convened and contributed to the themed session “Urban Inequalities in Southern Europe: New Geographies and Policy Challenges”. Building on the project’s preliminary results and on comparative evidence from Southern European cities (including Athens, Lisbon, Naples and Palermo), the session discussed how recent critical events—such as the financial crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic, the climate emergency, and rising geopolitical tensions—are reshaping urban socio-economic disparities, marginalisation processes, and conflicts. Particular attention was given to the persistence of severe social marginality (often intertwined with physical degradation and environmental risks) and to the need for stronger cognitive and measurement tools to support local governments in designing effective policy responses. The discussion emphasised the value of a multidimensional approach to urban inequalities, considering interlinked drivers and resources (e.g., housing, infrastructures, environment), and addressed key questions for scholars and policy-makers on: new forms of inequality, quantitative and qualitative indicators, knowledge-to-policy transfer, and emerging models to counteract spatial inequalities.

The session was chaired by Ignazio Vinci and João Igreja (University of Palermo), and included contributions from:

• Vincenzo Todaro (University of Palermo, Italy), “The Middle-Land of the Unrepresented Inequalities: Evidence From the Palermo Case Study”

• Cristina Mattiucci (University of Naples, Italy), “Urban inequalities in Naples: insights from the field to address policies”

• Daniela de Leo (University of Naples, Italy)

with an expert board comprising:

• Thomas Maloutas (Harokopio University of Athens, Greece), “Mapping diverse facets of social inequality in Athens”

• João Seixas (NOVA University of Lisbon, Portugal), “Mapping Metropolitan Inequalities – Reflections upon the case of Lisbon”

The conference was hosted by the Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments, University of the West of England (UWE Bristol), in collaboration with EURA. The session abstract and conference contributions are published in the official EURA 2025 Conference Proceedings (abstracts).