What makes a city livable? Transport, housing, health and environment. Matters of culture, entrepreneurship, crime and safety. Affordability and education. Depending on whose ‘livability index’ you look at, it may include design quality, sustainability and the digital infrastructures of the smart city. Other criteria applied may encompass food access, job opportunities or walkability. Inclusivity and the politics of participation also come into play. Discrimination in all its forms is key. The past two decades have seen an exponential rise of livability measures. Reflecting increased urbanity globally, they risk making the notion of the city ever more contested. For example, affordable housing is a neighbourhood issue. It is often linked to other questions: walkability, transport access, food deserts, and poor-quality public space. The design of our neighborhoods and buildings is connected to public health, mental wellbeing and the ‘economics’ of healthy cities. This conference examines the livability of the city from these diverse perspectives.