Examining the relational foundations of belonging among disabled and non-disabled individuals across three UK cities

Contemporary urban planning continues to foreground community as central to the creation of inclusive and sustainable cities. Yet, amid this emphasis, rising levels of loneliness and social isolation highlight a disconnect between policy aspirations and lived experiences. This article utilizes empirical data from semi-structured interviews conducted across three UK cities – London, Manchester, and Bristol – to examine how a sense of belonging manifests within diverse communities that coalesce around common activities and through transient interactions. Specifically, the article draws on the experiences of individuals – some of whom had a disability – engaged with community clubs that offer inclusive physical activity for residents across these cities. In doing so, the article demonstrates how belonging is generated and sustained through reciprocity, agency, authenticity, and care – highlighting relational forms of connection that transcend spatial fixity. In doing so, we contribute to critical understandings of urban belonging by demonstrating how social infrastructure fosters a sense of belonging and community engagement through shared practice as opposed to an emphasis on place. This has implications for rethinking how urban environments support inclusive forms of belonging and for developing community interventions that attend to relational, rather than solely spatial, dimensions of inclusion.