As the 24th Triennale Milano International Exhibition Inequalities approaches its conclusion, CRAFT and the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU) invite international scholars, policymakers, and city representatives to a day of dialogue and reflection.
The Space of Inequality, organized in collaboration with Milano MetroHUB Center and the UN-Habitat MetroHUB program, will take place on October 31, 2025, on the occasion of World Urban Day, the annual celebration dedicated by the United Nations to the role of cities in sustainable development.

The conference will explore the many dimensions of inequality through four Urban Dialogues: 

1 — Socio-environmental and climate inequalities

How do environmental crises translate into social injustices? The first dialogue, coordinated by Farah Makki and Gloria Pessina, connects global and local perspectives to address climate inequality. With the contributions of Lyla Mehta (University of Sussex), Sarine Karajerjian (Arab Reform Initiative), and Valentin Bayiri (City of Ouagadougou), the session explores how environmental degradation and resource scarcity generate new forms of exclusion—and how cities can build resilience and justice through their responses.

 

2 — Mobility, migration and inequalities

Mobility shapes access to opportunities, yet it can also be a site of exclusion. Coordinated by Paola Pucci and Giovanni Lanza, this dialogue will bring together Eda Beyazit Ince (University of Bristol), Martina Tazzioli (University of Bologna), and Cemil Arslan (Marmara Urban Union). Through their diverse experiences, the discussion will unfold around a key idea: mobility is not only about movement, but about the capacity to connect—to resources, services, and rights. Rethinking mobility through equity means reimagining how territories are planned and governed.

 

3 — Equity challenges of the digital transition

The digital transition is reshaping how we live, work, and govern cities. But can innovation be inclusive? Coordinated by Mara Tanelli and Grazia Concilio, this panel will engage Oren Yiftachel (UCL), Layla Pavone (Municipality of Milan), and Oriol Illa (Barcelona Metropolitan Area) in a discussion on the social side of digitalization. They will reflect on how cities can turn technology into a common good—one that expands participation and access instead of deepening existing divides.

 

4 — Citizenship rights and urban services

Access to services is one of the most tangible expressions of citizenship. In this dialogue, coordinated by Maryam Karimi and Marco Peverini, Claudia López, Sheela Patel, Teresa Sordé Martí, and Stephanie Loose will offer their perspectives from different global contexts. Their discussion will focus on housing, education, and welfare as crucial arenas where inequalities are reproduced or challenged every day. How can cities make rights visible, accessible, and real for all?

A concluding roundtable Contrasting Inequalities: the role of cities and metropolitan areas, moderated by Valeria Fedeli and Antonella Contin, will open with a message from Stefano Boeri, President of Triennale Milano, and will feature representatives of UN-Habitat, EUROCITIES, METREX, ANCI, and Housing Europe. Together, they will discuss the evolving role of cities and metropolitan areas in confronting inequalities—from local initiatives to global agendas, from social innovation to institutional reform.

Designed as an open conversation between research and practice, the event reflects CRAFT’s method: creating spaces where knowledge and action meet, where territorial challenges become opportunities for shared learning.

The Space of Inequality stems from DAStU and CRAFT’s contribution to the 24th Triennale Milano International Exhibition. Our researchers proposed a collective reading of inequalities from a territorial perspective. Key themes and issues are represented at two interconnected scales and through two complementary materials.
An immersive installation of three short films gathers testimonies from international experts to illustrate environmental, mobility, and housing inequalities at the global level.
At the same time, a physical model of the Milan metropolitan area, accompanied by the projection of maps and data, brings the discussion closer to home, showing how these same dynamics take shape in the local urban context. Through this dual representation—global narratives and metropolitan evidence—CRAFT and DAStU turn research into an experiential form of storytelling, making inequalities tangible and visible, and highlighting how cities can learn from their own fragilities to build shared generative learning supporting actual inclusion.