Born in 1982 in Palermo, Italy. PhD in Urban and Regional Planning (2012, University of Palermo). 

I am an associate research professor in human geography at the Instituto de Ciências Sociais da Universidade de Lisboa (ICS-Lisboa), president of the Portuguese Association of Political Economy (2025-27) and co-chair (with Marco Allegra) of the Urban Transitions Hub (2025-). Among my visitings and appointments are: Fulbright Research Scholar at the University of Memphis (2016); Benjamin Hooks Institute for Social Change Policy Fellow (Fall 2016 to Spring 2017); Visiting Scholar at the Polytechnic of Turin (2019), the University of Naples Federico II (2021) and the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies of Buenos Aires (CEUR-Conicet; 2022); Senior Expert Evaluator for Regiostars Awards 2019 (DG-REGIO, European Commission; 2019); Sub-area Expert in housing affordability for the New European Bauhaus (EC Joint Research Centre; 2023); member of the direction of the Portuguese Association of Political Economy (2023-25).

At ICS, I am elected member of the Scientific Commitee of the institute (2021-), president of the Ethical Commission (2021-) and member of the Scientific Commission of the PhD in Development Studies (2018-23 and 2025-).

My research, at the intersection between human geography, critical urban studies and political economy, develops among four main axes:

• urbanisation in global and multi-scalar perspective;
• urban security and violence;
• housing - financialisation, policies, social conflict;
• urban imaginaries.

I privilege comparative and global urban studies, with geographic focus on semi-peripheral regions (including Southern Europe, the South of United States and Latin America); and qualitative, inter-disciplinary, multi-scalar and genealogical perspecitves, as well as action reserch.

I am adjunct editor-in-chief of Análise Social, journal of ICS-ULisboa. Previously, I have been co-founder and editor of plaNext - next generation planning and of the blog ATS, blog of the research team Environment, Territory, Society of ICS-ULisboa.

I am author of Habitação para além da "crise": Políticas, conflito, direito (2024, Tigre de Papel), Urban Violence: Security, Imaginary, Atmosphere (with Andrea Pavoni; 2023, Lexington), Fear, Space and Urban Planning: A Critical Perspective from Southern Europe (2017, Springer), A Caravana pelo Direito à Habitação: da mobilização à construção de um movimento (with Jannis Kühne, Simone Frangella, Rita Silva e Roberto Falanga; 2023, Outro Modo). 

I welcome PhD candidates for the ULisboa PhD in Development Studies on:

• critical urban studies, human geography and spatial planning;
• urbanisation and urban policy;
• urban violence and security policies;
• housing policies and systems;
• uneven spatial development and urban change in semi-peripheral regions.

Ongoing research projects:

• (collaborator) CONTESTED TERRITORIES. From Contested Territories to alternatives of development: Learning from Latin America” (www.contested-territories.net/) (EC; H2020 MSCA RISE), 2020-2024;
• (researcher) LOGO - The LOcal GOvernance of housing policy. A study of municipal housing strategies (FCT: 2022.03719.PTDC) 2023-2026;
• (researcher) DASH. Deliver sAfe and Social Housing (EC; HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-SE) 2023-2026.

Past projects:

• (PI) Urbanoscenes – Post-colonial imaginaries of urbanisation: A future-oriented investigation from Portugal and Angola (FCT; PTDC/GES-URB/1053/2021), 2022-2025;(individual project) housin3G: Understanding housing policy change through its Governmentalities, Government and Governance (FCT; CEEC Individual), 2021-2022.
• (PI) Financialization of housing in Southern Europe: Policy analysis and recommendations (research contracted by The Left in the European Parliament, office of José Gusmão), 2021;
• (deputy PI) HOPES - HOusing PErspectives and Struggles. Futures of housing movements, policies and dynamics in Lisbon and beyond (FCT; PTDC/GES-URB/28826/2017), 2018-2022;
• (core CV of prooposal and task coordinator) exPERts - Making sense of planning expertise: housing policy and the role of experts in the Programa Especial de Realojamento (PER) (https://expertsproject.org/) (FCT; PTDC/ATP-EUR/4309/2014), 2016-2019;
• (collaborator researcher) CILM - City and Insecurity in Literature and Media (http://cilm.letras.ulisboa.pt/) (FCT; PTDC/CLE-LLI/110694/2009), 2014-2018;
• (post-doc project) Which Secure Cities? A critical approach to security and feelings of fear in urban planning in Southern Europe (FCT; SFRH/BPD/86394/2012), 2013-2018;
• (Fulbright Research Scholar Grant) SECURE – Security Examined Critically: URban planning Explorations (From Southern Europe to Southern United States) (US-Italy Fulbright Commission), 2016;
• (researcher) Forward Looking Analysis of Grand Societal cHallenges and Innovative Policies (FLAGSHIP) (Comissão Europeia, FP7; ID 320330), 2014-2015;
• (collaborator researcher) Post-metropolitan territories as emergent forms of urban space: Coping with sustainability, livability, and governmentality (PRIN; Departamento Italiano de Educação e Investigação), 2014-2017.