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Forum for cross-disciplinary academic debates about future visions of the city and pathways for sustainable communitieshttp://www.banlieuenetwork.org/Banlieue Network addresses the theme “Care for the Future: Thinking Forward through the Past”. We intend to create a forum for cross-disciplinary debates about future visions of the city and pathways for sustainable communities. By focusing on the lived experience of suburban residents, we wish to address major societal challenges such as segregation and perceptions of deprived communities. Exploring the ways in which communities are represented in narratives, political and media discourses and popular culture and studying the alternative identities residents develop in response to mainstream discourses will help us learn from the shortcomings of previous urban policies and improve the effectiveness of future strategic planning. By involving a range of partners such as scholars, artists, stakeholders, urban practitioners, residents and policy makers and by stimulating comparative approaches, we aim to contribute to new thinking about future ethical, cultural and social landscapes and future directions for society.