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

I am an assistant research professor at the Institute of Social Sciences since 2019 and member of the Coordination of the PhD in Development Studies of the University of Lisbon. 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 Interuniversity Department of Sciences of Territory, Polytechnic of Turin (2019); Senior Expert Evaluator for Regiostars Awards 2019 (DG-REGIO, European Commission; 2019); coordinator of the thematic section 'Political economy of territory' of the Portuguese Association of Political Economy (since 2020).

My research, at the intersection between human geography, planning research and critical urban studies, develops among three main axes:

• Security and urban violence, their relations with urban policy;
• Housing policy and housing struggles;
• Urban neoliberalization crisis and (permanent) austerity;
• Comparative and global urban studies, with geographic focus on Southern Europe and the South of United States.

I privilege qualitative, inter-disciplinary, multi-scalar and genealogical perspecitves, as well as action reserch (I am member of Habita, Association for the Right to Housing and the City).

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 blogue ATS, blog of the research team Environment, Territory, Society of ICS-ULisboa.

I am author of Fear, Space and Urban Planning (2017, Springer) and various articles in national and international journals. I am currently working, with Andrea Pavoni. on my second monograph on Urban Violence (under contract with Lexington Books). 

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:

• (deputy PI) HOPES - HOusing PErspectives and Struggles. Futures of housing movements, policies and dynamics in Lisbon and beyond (FCT; PTDC/GES-URB/28826/2017), 2018-2021;
• (collabvorator) CONTESTED TERRITORIES. From Contested Territories to alternatives of development: Learning from Latin America” (www.contested-territories.net/) (EC; H2020 MSCA RISE), 2020-2024. 

Past projects:

• (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;
• (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.