The theme “Society” was under discussion at an international congress about “Cities in History”

The second edition of the International Congress “Cities in History” was held from 18 to 20 October, under the theme “Society”. This congress, promoted by the Câmara Municipal of Guimarães, to which the CECS was associated, gathered at the Vila Flor Cultural Center about 150 participants and more than a hundred communications, spread over the five major thematic areas: the city in the ancient world, the city in the medieval times, the city in modern times, the city in the industrial times and, finally, the city of the current era.

The Congress began with the presentation of two lectures given by the scientific coordinators: Professor Diego Ramiro, gave an account of several international projects that study urban spaces, with special emphasis on the project he coordinated on the city of Madrid (http://idehistoricamadrid.org/); while Professor Norberta Amorim (CECS), presented a conference entitled “Pursuing Social History from the Genealogical Repository – a challenge that is always open. An application about Guimarães of the last four centuries”. It is also worth noting that five plenary sessions were held, one for each thematic area by invited experts, both Portuguese and foreign, who presented the research situation in their areas of expertise.

On the second day, the congress participants were able to attend an interesting and lively round table on the City of the Future, moderated by the journalist Samuel Silva, with the participation of Andreu Domingo, from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, ​​Maria Manuel Oliveira, from the University of Minho and Álvaro Domingues, from the University of Porto.

At the end of the event, those responsible for each thematic area, Professors Maria Manuela Martins, from the University of Minho, Maria Helena Coelho, from the University of Coimbra, José Damião Rodrigues, from the University of Lisbon, Jorge Fernandes Alves, from the University of Porto and Magda Pinheiro, from ISCTE, emphasized the high quality and diversity of the communications presented, proposing the creation of a “Cities in History” research network, based in Guimarães, to keep researchers in contact between congresses and carry out activities such as colloquiums or summer courses.

It was also announced that the III edition of the International Congress “Cities in History” will be held under the theme “Economy”, and will be held in 2022. Meanwhile, it is planned to publish the proceedings of 2017 event in the next year. The digitized records of all previous editions (from 1980 to 2012) are already available on the congress page (http://ch.guimaraes.pt).

Text and photo: Antero Ferreira