Association information

The Urban Affairs Association (UAA) is the international professional organization for urban scholars, researchers, and public service professionals.

Mission

The Urban Affairs Association is dedicated to creating interdisciplinary spaces for engaging in intellectual and practical discussions about urban life. Through theoretical, empirical, and action-oriented research, the UAA fosters diverse activities to understand and shape a more just and equitable urban world. (Adopted March 12, 2010)

History

UAA is the successor organization to the Council of University Institutes for Urban Affairs, formed in Boston in 1969 by a group of directors of university urban programs. Today, UAA includes over 700 institutional, individual, and student members from colleges and universities throughout North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia. All UAA members receive the Journal of Urban Affairs as part of their dues.

Conference

The Urban Affairs Association hosts a conference each spring in an urban center. These yearly conferences are an integral part of UAA's efforts to increase knowledge about urban places and promote the development of research activities. Formal research papers and organized discussions by recognized experts spanning a wide range of topics are presented. The conference format also provides professional development workshops and roundtables, as well as informal social activities designed to foster professional networking and open discussion. The sponsoring Association of the Journal of Urban Affairs and the Journal of Race, Ethnicity and the City, the Urban Affairs Association, is the international professional organization for urban scholars, researchers, and nonprofit/public service practitioners. The UAA research community is highly interdisciplinary encompassing researchers from all social sciences, planning, education, health, law, social work, and other interdisciplinary fields. The conference content reflects this dynamic community.