Born in 1984 in Rome, Italy. PhD in Urban and Regional Planning (2016/17, University of Palermo – TU Berlin). 

I am a post-doc researcher at the ICS, Institute of Social Science of Lisbon, since I have got selected for the “Estímulo ao Emprego Científico Individual” promoted by the FCT (Foundation for Science and Technology) of Portugal 2020. I am a member of an international collective of researcher/activists called SqEK (Squatting European Kollective) since 2014.

I have been researching on practices of space reclaiming from more radical to more institutional perspective.

My PhD dissertation titled, “Conflicting citizenship and (re)active zones in the urban areas: confronting the cases of Berlin and Rome – Policies and practices for defining processes of “reclaiming” urban public spaces”, is based on the analysis of relevant cases of insurgent reappropriation /reclaiming of urban public spaces making a comparison between two cities historically characterized by organized forms of social struggle and grassroots transitional space reappropriation practices. The research hypothesis was built on the observation that these grass-root experiments of self-management and DIY renovation of urban spaces could contribute to develop ideas for more sustainable urban development strategies, public spaces and services co-/self-management and radical models of city governance. The cases observed were cases of self-production of affordable housing stock; heritage co-management and self-renewal; alternative and cooperative forms of welfare. The research goal was to establish if these practices can have an impact upon contemporary policymaking and urban agenda. In order to define that, I traced an analysis on how and in which conditions these practices, pioneering new ideas, have been facilitated, hampered, or co-opted, along these last decades by institutions and dominant discourses and practices.

My research, at the intersection between human geography, planning theory and critical urban studies, is mainly focused on the following key topics:

• Analysis of grassroots practices as forms of insurgent urbanism. From radical public space reclaiming practices to squatting as both alternative strategies to access space for material and immaterial needs and political claims to the Right to the City
• Critical analysis of dominant discourses in hegemonic neoliberal urban theoretical and practical concepts as Temporary urbanism, self-management and participation
• Comparative urban studies among European cities to define similar patterns of institutional behavior and bottom-up practices’ institutionalization

Since September 2020, I am associated with the UTH (Urban Transition Hub) at the ICS.

Research Field: reclaiming practices; squatting; institutionalisation; Right to the City; insurgent urbanism