It is said that the concept of social inclusion was developed in France in the 1980s, though just a little knowledge of history will remind us that people of good will and compassion have worked through the centuries to offset the adverse effects of political, commercial and societal decision-makers.

This article provides a brief overview of historic work in the field of Learning City development. It then proceeds to highlight two contemporary strands of work. The first is the initiative of UNESCO’s Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) in establishing the International Platform of Learning Cities. The second is the work of the PASCAL Observatory, currently manifested in the Learning Cities 2020 programme.