Isabelle Anguelovski

Isabelle Anguelovski

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Social & Behavioural Sciences

I obtained a PhD (Urban Studies & Planning, MIT) before returning to Europe in 2011 with a Marie Curie fellowship. Situated at the intersection of urban planning and policy, social inequality and development studies, my research examines the extent to which urban plans, policies, and socio-environmental interventions contribute to more just, resilient, healthy, and sustainable cities. I also study how community groups in distressed neighborhoods contest environmental inequities as a result of urban (re)development processes. I am based at UAB-ICTA where I lead the research line Cities & Environmental Justice, direct the Barcelona Lab for Urban Environmental Justice & Sustainability, and head the ICTA Gender, Diversity, and Wellbeing Commiteee.  Much of my work takes place in marginalized neighborhoods resisting displacement from unequal development in Europe, the Americas and S Africa.

Research interests

I am a critical social scientist trained in urban studies & planning (PhD, MIT, 2011), nonprofit management (Harvard University, 2004), international development (University de Paris-1 Sorbonne, 2001), and political studies (Science Po, 2000). 

As part of collaborative and individual international research projects, I study how environmental injustices materialize and get contested. Currently, I focus on four main research areas: 1) The politics of the green city as a growing global planning orthodoxy; 2) The social and racial manifestations and impacts of green gentrification for historically marginalized residents 3) Urban planning for health and wellbeing, with a focus on health equity and justice 4) Justice and inclusivity in climate adaptation planning, including distributional and procedural insecurities produced by adaptation plans, interventions, and land use configurations and regulations. 

Selected publications

- Anguelovski I, Brand AL, Ranganathan M & Hyra D 2022. 'Decolonizing the Green City: From environmental privilege to emancipatory green justice'. Environmental Justice, Vol 15, No. 1.

- Anguelovski I, Connolly JJT, Cole H, et al. 2022, 'Green gentrification in European and North American cities', Nat Commun 13, 1, 3816.

- Triguero-Mas M, Anguelovski I et al. 2022, 'Exploring green gentrification in 28 global North cities: the role of urban parks and other types of greenspaces', Environ Res Lett 17, 10, 104035.

- García-Lamarca M, Anguelovski I & Venner K 2022, 'Challenging the financial capture of urban greening', Nature Communications, 13, 1, 7132.

- Shokry G, Anguelovski I, Connolly JJT, Maroko A & Pearsall H 2022. 'They Didn't See It Coming: Green Resilience Planning and Vulnerability to Future Climate Gentrification', Housing Policy Debate, 32:1, 211-245.

- Amorim-Maia AT, Anguelovski I, Chu E & Connolly J 2022, 'Intersectional climate justice: A conceptual pathway for bridging adaptation planning, transformative action, and social equity', Urban Climate, 41, 101053.

- García-Lamarca, M, Anguelovski, I, Cole HVS, Connolly JJT, Pérez-del-Pulgar C, Shokry G & Triguero-Mas M 2022, 'Urban Green Grabbing: Residential Real Estate Developers Discourse and Practice in Gentrifying Global North Neighborhoods', Geoforum, 128: 1-10. 

Selected research activities

GREENLULUS, ERC Starting Grant, #1 in SH3 panel, PI, European Research Council, 2016-2022.

Maria de Maetzu Grant, Co-Responsible Principal Investigator, Spanish Ministry of Universities, 2020-2023.

Greening and Gentrification: Dialogues to Achieve a Just and Green Barcelona. Report for Ajuntament de Barcelona. 2022. 

Re-Naturing. GOLD report Pathways to Urban and Territorial EqualityUnited Cities and Local Government (UCLG) and e Knowledge in Action for Urban Equality (KNOW). Chapter Co-Curator & Lead Author. 2020-2022.

España 2050 podcast on urban futures: How will future cities be?. Presidence of the Spanish Government. 2022.