Heritage is often seen as the preserve of conservationists and historians, but for urbanists the ways in which architectural, cultural and social heritage narratives frame urban experience and identity, and shape the urban environment, are critical to understanding urban futures. This theme links to the work of the Curating the City research cluster led by Urban Lab and the Institute of Archaeology in the Centre for Critical Heritage Studies at UCL. It promotes critical, transdisciplinary, and participatory approaches to the definition and evaluation of urban heritage, and engages particularly with heritage research in complex, cosmopolitan and postcolonial cities.