What is the river’s place in urban history? The historical co-evolution of cities and rivers is a research topic that requires both an urban and an environmental perspective. Rivers have been essential to the foundation, growth, prosperity and development of many major cities around the world. At the same time, cities have considerably altered rivers and created their own hydraulic regimes. This conference will explore city-river relations as an essential part of urban environmental history. We want to apply a comparative perspective, both in chronological and regional terms, focusing on cities in different world regions. We are interested in long-term legacies, as well as in fundamental change in city-river relations between pre-industrial and industrialized societies.