
As cities become greener, develop sustainability plans, or plan for climate impacts, they are not necessarily becoming more equitable and inclusive. This research line examines the extent to which urban plans and policy decisions contribute to more just, resilient, healthy, and sustainable cities, and how community groups in distressed neighborhoods contest the existence, creation, or exacerbation of environmental inequities as a result of urban (re)development processes and policies. Researchers pay particular attention to the strategies and organizing actions developed by people of color and low-income residents to make their city more environmentally-resilient, reduce its carbon-impact, and transform their neighborhoods into more livable -- and also affordable -- urban environments.
The team's empirical studies take on a multi-method approach, combining spatial, quantitative, and qualitative research. They examine urban change and (re)development in cities both in the global North and South. Researchers in the Cities and Environmental Justice line have training in urban studies and planning, geography, sociology, policy and political science, economics, and public health. They engage in collaborative researchers with colleagues in Spain, the UK, Germany, Finland, Italy, the United States, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, South Africa, India, and Australia.
From June 2016 on, this research line will continue to be developed under the Barcelona Lab for Environmental Justice and Sustainability umbrella. It will welcome one new Master's student, four PhD students, two Postdoctoral Fellows, and a Research Scientist.
Isabelle.Anguelovski@uab.cat

Thesis defense of Susana Torres López
Thesis defense of Martina Siskova