The papers in this Special Issue of Urban Studies consider, in their contra
sting ways, the spatialities of disability and disabled people's barriered
and bounded lives. The papers provide a range of insights into geographies
of identity formation, while seeking to (re) assert the power of territoria
lity by putting "the place (and historical specificity) back into displacem
ent" (Bammer, 1994, p. xiv; quoted in Pratt, 1998, p. 27). This introductio
n describes the main themes of the Special Issue and develops the argument
that geographers and scholars of urban studies ought to develop a more acti
ve interest in the diverse and multiple geographies of disability.