What exactly makes violence urban? How do cities become stages or targets of violence, and how is violence negotiated? These questions were at the center of the interdisciplinary expert workshop “Urban Violence”, held at the Technical University of Darmstadt on 13–14 October 2025. Jointly organized by TraCe and Organizing Architecture, a Research Training Group funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), the two-day workshop aimed to understand urban violence as a scientific phenomenon and make it fruitful as an analytical concept – asking what constitutes the urban aspect of urban violence.
The first panel “Violence and Protest”, opened with Danica Trifunjagić’s analysis of media narratives of student protests in Serbia both in 1996–97 and 2024–25. Fabien Jobard then reflected on riots in the French suburbs since the 1970s and what constitutes urban violence. A lively discussion connected both perspectives, exploring the theoretical references in more depth.
The workshop’s public keynote was delivered by TraCe Fellow Gruia Bădescu, titled “Violence in/against the city: Making sense of urban violence from urbicde to feral cities”. Bădescu offered a comprehensive overview of the various forms of urban violence, examining how violence takes shape in and against cities. He combined empirical examples from different regions with theoretical insights.
On the second day, the focus shifted to forms of violence against the city. The panel “Violence against the Urban” began with Simone Tulumello examining the intrinsic violence embedded in urbanization processes. Then, Martin Coward analyzed Russian attacks on urban areas as attempts to destroy the social and symbolic fabrics of cities.
The concluding discussion synthesized these perspectives and critically reflected upon the workshop’s central questions. The discussion revealed that urban violence cannot be reduced to physical destruction alone. Rather, it encompasses intertwined material, political, and symbolic dimensions. A joint dinner on the first evening and lunch on the second day provided additional opportunities for participants to deepen discussions and engage in informal exchange and networking.