Cite this as: Belford, P. 2025 Time, Space and People: Urban Archaeology and Urban Futures, Internet Archaeology 70. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.70.2
This article provides some personal reflections on a range of issues around urban archaeology, focusing on the contribution that the discipline can make to placemaking for future generations. These reflections are grouped into three thematic areas: time, space and people. It is argued that public engagement is critical for ensuring that archaeology realises its potential to influence future development positively.
Corresponding author: Paul Belford
paul.belford@heritageinnovation.org
Heritage Innovation
Figure 1: Time. An interpretation panel at Butrint, a complex multi-period urban site in southern Albania. The interpretation focuses on five main periods that reflect present-day understanding of the historical narrative rather than archaeological understanding of the gradual evolution of the site. Photograph © Paul Belford.
Figure 2: Space. A screenshot of the Historic Environment Record for the English town of Chesterfield, showing various heritage constraints and their overlapping hard boundaries, which do not align well with each other or with the underlying urban fabric. Image © Derbyshire County Council.
Figure 3: Space. A plan of the Hungarian town of Kézdivásárhely, currently in Romania. Kézdivásárhely features a unique network of un-named but numbered passageways (udvarterek), which radiate from the main square. They provide access to individual properties and create cross-town connections. Drawing © Heritage Innovation Limited.
Figure 4: People. A group of schoolchildren visiting an archaeological excavation in the English industrial town of West Bromwich, an area with high unemployment, low educational attainment and significant levels of poverty and disadvantage. Photograph © Paul Belford.
Adler-Wölfl, K. and Skomorowski, R. 2025'GIS Tools for Urban Archaeology in Vienna. Site Mapping with Different Geometries', Internet Archaeology 70. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.70.10
Arcos García, M. 2025 'Everything Clashes in the City: Some Spanish Examples of Peaceful Coexistence Around Archaeological Heritage', Internet Archaeology 70. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.70.13
Bohn, P. 2022 'Archaeology with the city', Revista Chakiñan de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades 17, 235–44. https://doi.org/10.37135/chk.002.17.15
Bouwmeester, J. 2025 'Urban Archaeology at a Crossroads', Internet Archaeology 70. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.70.7
Bowsher, J. 2012 Shakespeare's London Theatreland: Archaeology, History and Drama, London: Museum of London Archaeology.
Bryant, S. and Dupuis, M. 2025 'Archaeology in the Changing Townscape: The Centre Region in France', Internet Archaeology 70. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.70.12
Carver, M.O.H. 1997 'Town and anti-town in the first millennium AD' in G. De Boe and F. Verhaege (eds) Urbanism in Medieval Europe. Papers of the 'Medieval Europe Brugge 1997' Conference, Volume 1, Zellik: Instituut voor het Archeologisch Patrimonium. 375–85.
Christophersen, A. 2022 'High-definition archaeology, small-scale narratives, and monetary practice in medieval Scandinavian urbanisation', Journal of Urban Archaeology 6, 15–30. https://doi.org/10.1484/J.JUA.5.131731
Devos, Y., De Cupere, B., Speleers, L., Van de Vijver, K., Van Schepdael, N., Vrydaghs, L. and Degraeve, A. 2025 'A Matter of Scale: Developing a Framework for Environmental Archaeology in Brussels', Internet Archaeology 70. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.70.9
Dubisch, A. 2025 'Lübeck's Founding Quarter: Urban Development at an Authentic Site', Internet Archaeology 70. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.70.15
Gaffney, C., Croucher, K., Bates, C.R., Booker, O., Dunn, R., Evans, A., Ichumbaki, E.B., Moore, J., Ogden, J., Ritchings, J., Simpson, S., Sparrow, T., Walker, A. and Wilson, A.S. 2025 'Digital Twins at the City and Town Scale: Europe and Beyond', Internet Archaeology 70. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.70.5
Giles, K. 2007 'Public space in town and village' in K. Giles and C. Dyer (eds) Town and Country in the Middle Ages: Contrasts, Contacts and Interconnections, 1100–1500, Leeds: Maney. 293–312. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003580294-16
Hodges, R. 2022 'Becoming Europe? Retracing the origin of medieval cities from Comachio and Oestgeest', Journal of Urban Archaeology 6, 87–110. https://doi.org/10.1484/J.JUA.5.131735
Howell, M. 2000 'The spaces of late medieval urbanity' in M. Boone and P. Stabel (eds) Shaping Urban Identity in Late Medieval Europe, Leuven: Garant. 3–24.
Jacobsen, J.K., Murro, G., Presicce, C.P., Raja, R., Saxkjaer, S.G. and Vitti, M. 2021 'High-definition urban narratives from central Rome', Journal of Urban Archaeology 3, 65–86. https://doi.org/10.1484/J.JUA.5.123676
Jervis, B., Cembrzynski, P., Fleisher, J., Tys, D. and Wynne-Jones, S. 2021 'The archaeology of emptiness? Understanding open urban spaces in the medieval world', Journal of Urban Archaeology 4, 221–46. https://doi.org/10.1484/J.JUA.5.126601
Lassau, G. 2025 'Pipes tell Basel's Urban History. Archaeology and the Expansion of the District's Heating Network', Internet Archaeology 70. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.70.14
Laubichler, M.D. and Renn, J. 2015 'Extended evolution: a conceptual framework for integrating regulatory networks and niche construction', Journal of Experimental Zoology B 324, 565–77. https://doi.org/10.1002/jez.b.22631
Lutzoni, L. 2016 Informalised urban space design. Rethinking the relationship between formal and informal. City, Territory and Architecture 3, 20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40410-016-0046-9
Malliaris, M. 2025 'Practical Heritage Conservation in Cities in North Rhine-Westphalia: Legal Framework and a Practical Example from the Church Square of St Stephanus in Beckum, District of Warendorf (Westphalia)', Internet Archaeology 70. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.70.8
Martens, F., Celis, D., Hendriks, V. and Minsaer, K. 2020 'Integration of the sixteenth-century Kipdorp site and the 'Noorderlijn' project, Antwerp, Belgium' in P. Belford and J. Bouwmeester (eds) Managing Archaeology in Dynamic Urban Centres, Leiden: Sidestone. 55–68.
Novák, D., Staňková, V., Rýpar, V., Podliska, J. and Hasil, J. 2025 'Managing the Urban Archaeological Heritage of Prague: The Benefits of Collaboration', Internet Archaeology 70. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.70.3
Ortman, S.G., Smith, M.E., Lobo, J. and Bettencourt, L.M.A. 2020 'Why archaeology is necessary for a theory of urbanisation', Journal of Urban Archaeology 1, 151–67. https://doi.org/10.1484/J.JUA.5.120914
Picker, A. 2025 'Significance in the Suburbs: Grasping the 'Monument Syntax' of a Roman Town for Developers and Heritage Managers Alike (Brigantium/Bregenz, Austria)', Internet Archaeology 70. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.70.11
Pittaluga, P. 2020 'Pioneering urban practices in transition spaces', City, Territory and Architecture 7, 18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40410-020-00127-6
Raja, R. and Sindbæk, S.M. 2021 'Network evolutions and high-definition narratives: an introduction', Journal of Urban Archaeology 3, 11–12. https://doi.org/10.1484/J.JUA.5.123672
Roberts, P., Carleton, W.C., Amano, N. et al. 2024 ' Using urban pasts to speak to urban presents in the Anthropocene', Nature Cities 1, 30–41. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-023-00014-4
Seppänen, L. 2025 'The Present Role and Future Perspectives of Urban Archaeology in Finland', Internet Archaeology 70. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.70.6
Simon, D. and Adam-Bradford, A. 2016 'Archaeology and contemporary dynamics for more sustainable, resilient cities in the peri-urban interface' in B. Basant Maheshwari, V. P. Singh and B. Thoradeniya (eds) Balanced Urban Development: Options and Strategies for Liveable Cities, Bern: Springer. 57–84. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28112-4_5
Single, A. and Davies, L. 2021 'Prehistory, Playhouses and the Public: London's planning archaeology', Internet Archaeology 57. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.57.10
Smith, M.E. 2023 Urban Life in the Distant Past: The Prehistory of Energised Crowding, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009249027
Tys, D. 2020 'The central town square in medieval towns in the (southern) low countries: urban life, form, and identity between social practice and iconographic identity. Journal of Urban Archaeology 2, 69–83. https://doi.org/10.1484/J.JUA.5.121529
White, R. 2022 Wroxeter: Ashes under Uricon, Oxford: Archaeopress. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv2x8v68q
Zirne, S. and Lūsēna, E. 2025 'Archaeological Heritage in the Historic Centre of Riga: Status, Management, Development', Internet Archaeology 70. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.70.4
Internet Archaeology is an open access journal based in the Department of Archaeology, University of York. Except where otherwise noted, content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 (CC BY) Unported licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that attribution to the author(s), the title of the work, the Internet Archaeology journal and the relevant URL/DOI are given.
Terms and Conditions | Legal Statements | Privacy Policy | Cookies Policy | Citing Internet Archaeology
Internet Archaeology content is preserved for the long term with the Archaeology Data Service. Help sustain and support open access publication by donating to our Open Access Archaeology Fund.
Home
