BSP Expo 2026: Right to the Good City
As part of UCL’s bicentennial celebrations, the Bartlett School of Planning is holding its annual thematic Expo of student work.
This year’s theme, The Right to the Good City, explores two interconnected ideas.
The Right to the City represents a demand for justice: that all residents should have the power to shape, access, and actively participate in urban life and city-making processes.
The notion of the Good City asks what makes an urban environment successful, who benefits from it, and how these outcomes are defined in practice.
Together, these ideas are central to contemporary planning. As cities face escalating climate challenges, rapid technological change, and shifting social dynamics, their relevance has never been more urgent.
The work presented at the BSP Expo 2026 launch draws from student posters and digital projects developed in response to this theme. Students bring creative and critical perspectives, exploring what constitutes a Good City and how rights to urban spaces and processes can be secured. These works have been reviewed by a panel of BSP staff and planning practitioners.
2026 is the year in which we celebrate UCL’s bicentenary, marking 200 years since UCL’s establishment as the first university in London. On 11 February 2026, UCL will begin a year of celebration to mark our Bicentenary. UCL200 will be an exciting and varied programme of activities, events and storytelling, celebrating and reinforcing UCL’s commitment to our founding values, highlighting the excellence and impact of our groundbreaking work and people, and presenting an ambitious and inspiring portrait of our future.