In recent years geographical urban theory has been subject to renewed, vigorous debate about its stakes and its politics, and indeed about the nature of ‘the urban’ at the heart of its concerns. It is a fitting moment, therefore, for a virtual collection to trace a path through key trajectories in urban theorizing as they have been reflected in Progress in Human Geography over the last 25 years. This collection of 10 papers reflects a generation of urban geographical scholarship that demonstrates a proliferation of substantive concerns and an expansion of the repertoire of theoretical inspirations that have animated and reshaped the field into one marked by a diverse suite of questions, methodologies and political engagements. This introduction briefly narrates the key trajectories and reflects on the contributions arising from the selected papers.