Companion to urban and regional studies A crucial year for writing about cities and human lives on them Twenty years have passed since the turn of the millennium and several key events have transformed the world of cities. Events related to war and terrorism changed the whole realm of migration from international travel to metropolitan demographic shifts and to neighborhood policies. Here we can name: the attacks on the twin towers in New York (2001) the beginning of the war in Afghanistan (2001) the end of the Second Congo War (2002) the invasion of Iraq (2003) the attacks in Madrid and London (2005) the Boko Haram insurgency in Africa (2009) and the prominence of ISIS in Iraq (2014). Events related to the environment have shaped international regulations urban development policies and political movements. Here we can mention: the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami (2004) the entrance into force of the Kyoto Protocol (for reduction of greenhouse emissions 2005) the entrance into force of the Paris Agreement (for limiting global warming 2016) and the beginning of the Youth Strike for Climate international movement (2018). Events related to economics have changed the pace and the geographical epicenters of the worlds development. Here we can name at least the global financial crisis (2008 2009) and the ascendancy of China as the worlds second largest economy (2010). Events related to politics have been either the result of long term processes or the marker for future developments at the global national metropolitan and neighborhood scale. And here we can mention: the beginning of the post neoliberal experiments in Latin America (2002) the Arab Spring (including the Syrian Civil War) and the student movements in Quebec London Mexico City and Santiago de Chile (2011) the beginning of the refugee crisis in Europe (2015) the ascendancy of far right authorities like Theresa May Boris Johnson Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro (2016 2019) and the beginning of grassroots social outbursts in countries like France Hong Kong Chile Algeria Colombia and so on (2018 2019)