European cities are engaged in difficult and challenging processes of social, economical, institutional and territorial change. The XI EURA conference, held in Milan in October 2008, has been organized by the Department of Architecture and Planning of Politecnico di Milano, in collaboration with the Department of Sociology and Social Research of Università degli Studi Milano-Bicocca and the Department of Planning, Università IUAV di Venezia. It has focused on the exploration of these major challenges fostering a lively exchange and debate among researchers in the field of urban studies, particularly pointing at interactions among forms of knowledge and forms of urban governance. EURA brings together an inter-disciplinary network of urban researchers from across Europe and beyond. It provides a forum for cross-national debate on urban policy and acts as a bridge between research and policy in this rapidly urbanizing world.