Giulio Verdini

I am Reader in Urban Planning and Director of Global Engagement at the School of Architecture and Cities at the University of Westminster. Since 2022, I have been Visiting Professor at the International University of Rabat. Prior to that I was: Visiting Professor at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, in Morocco (2019-2024); Assistant and then Associate Professor in Urban Planning and Design at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in Suzhou, China (2010-2016), and founding Co-Director of the XJTLU Research Institute of Urbanisation; Visiting Scholar at the Centre d'Etudes sur la Chine Moderne et Contemporaine in Paris, EHESS (2013); Visiting PhD Fellow at the Institute of Urban Theory, Universidad de la Republica in Uruguay (2005).

My research explores governance challenges for resilient urban development in the Global South, with particular attention to social-spatial equity, climate justice, and the fragile legacy of historic places. My main publications are ‘Climate Adaptation and Cultural Resilience. The case of the Oasis of Figuig, Morocco’ (2023, Bilingual English and French); ‘Management Planning for Cultural Heritage’ (2022, with Taylor, translated in Chinese in 2024); ‘Culture and Rural-Urban Revitalisation in South Africa’ (2021, with Sirayi & Kanyane), and ‘Urban China’s Rural Fringe’ (2016).

I regularly serve as an expert for international organisations, charities and NGOs such as UNESCO, WHITRAP, UN-HABITAT, Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), UN Tourism, ICOMOS, Cities Alliances, and the King's Foundation. I am currently leading a UfM Report on International Knowledge Exchanges in Architecture and Planning in the Euro-Mediterranean Region, and I was one of the lead contributors of the UNESCO Global Report ‘Culture for Sustainable Urban Development’ (2016) and principal investigator of the UNESCO Report ‘Culture 2030, Rural-Urban Development. China at a glance' (2019). 

Over the years, I combined my research activity with international consultancy. I hold a BA/MA in Architecture (Spec. Urban Planning), and a PhD (2007) in Economics, Urban and Regional Development, from the University of Ferrara in Italy.

Underpinning my research is a theoretical interest in the notion of centre-periphery in planning and policy and contested ideas of development. This perspective has led me to research how governance and planning can contribute to resilient and inclusive urban futures. I adopt mixed methodological approaches, including innovative and participatory tools —such as foresight, scenario planning, and community co-design—to explore pathways for transformative, place-based, and culturally-sensitive transitions.  I have led and contributed to participatory workshops and knowledge exchanges in Brazil, China, the MENA region, and Europe.

Over the years, I have developed three distinct but interconnected strands of research:

1.     Governance of urbanisation and urban-rural transition. This strand focused on the governance and spatial planning challenges associated with rapid urbanisation, peri-urban dynamics, and urban–rural linkages, particularly in China, and emerging contexts.

2.     Heritage-Led Urban and Rural Regeneration. Central to my scholarly production is a substantial body of work on urban heritage, investigating governance models, the crucial issue of community engagement in development processes and reconstruction, and planning mechanisms for inclusive conservation and regeneration. International focus with field research in China, North Africa, and Europe.

3.     Climate Resilience, Place-Based Adaptation, and Equity in Planning. A more recent and expanding focus of my work investigates climate urbanism, adaptive governance, and participatory planning in response to environmental and disaster risks. International focus with research in the MENA Region, Asia and South America.

A SELECTION OF  RESEARCH PROJECTS

-       Engagement strategies for better climate resilience governance in disaster situations (ERSC UK-Brazil Global Talent Exchange Scheme, CI, 2024-ongoing);

-       A community of practice for resilient urban development in the Tashkent Urban Region, Uzbekistan (WIUT-UOW Research Collaboration Fund, PI, 2024 -ongoing); 

-       Spatial characteristics and planning strategy of urban-rural integration development (Foreign Expert Introduction Programme, Ministry of Science and Technology of China, led by Tongji University, CI, 2022 - ongoing);

-       Globally-informed City Climate Pedagogy & Practice (UoW SCUE, PI, 2019 - ongoing), with follow up funding for knowledge-exchange 'ILAUD Figuig Climate Studio'  (Municipality of Figuig, Morocco, 2022);

-       Culture and Urban-Rural Linkages (UNESCO, Consultant, 2016/19);

-       Creative Rural Towns in Calabria (NGO Accademia di Gagliato, PI, 2016/19);

-       Interdisciplinarity in Urban Studies - WG3 member (EU COST Action INTREPID, 2015/19);

-       Urban Fringe Planning and Institutions (Jiangsu Department of Education, PI, 2014/16);

-       Open-Space Non-Market Value (Suzhou Social Science Philosophy Foundation, PI, 2011);

EXTERNAL ENGAGEMENT

I am the vice-President of ILAUD, the International Laboratory of Architecture and Urban Design; Co-coordinator of the AESOP TG Global South/East; Editor of the Routledge Book Series ‘Planning, Heritage and Sustainability', and Book Review Editor of 'Built Heritage'. I act as peer reviewer for most planning journals. 

I have been a PhD external examiner in the field of architecture and urban studies at Polytechnic University of Milan, University of Sassari, The Australian National University, the University of Liverpool (XJTLU), University of Fort Hare in South Africa, Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint Denis. 

I have been invited to talk at a number of high-level international gatherings. A selection is reported here. 

As Keynote Speaker at: the International Conference on ‘Post-Disaster Urban Reconstruction’, Kahramanmaras, Turkey, 2025; the Symposium ‘Culture for Sustainable Rural-Urban Development’, Pretoria, South Africa, 2019; the International UNESCO Conference 'Culture 2030 Rural-Urban Development', Meishan, China, 2019 (acting as rapporteur for the final plenary session).

As moderator at: the high-level panels on ‘Urban Heritage Conservation and Traditional Building Skills in the Southern Mediterranean Countries’, at WUF12 in Cairo, 2024; the parallel session ‘Climate Justice in Urban Pedagogy & Practice', I4C IPCC /UN-HABITAT /GCoM, (Virtual, Worldwide), 2021; the International Seminar on ‘Small Settlements and the Cultural Dimension of Urbanisation’ at Cité de l' Architecture et du Patrimoine, Paris, 2016; the Researcher’s Forum at the UNESCO Conference ‘Culture for Sustainable Development’, Hangzhou, China, 2015.

As speaker at: the ICESCO conference on ‘Urban Reconstruction and Islamic Heritage’, in Azerbaijan, 2024; the experts’ workshop on ‘Urban Heritage and Traditional Building Skills in the Southern Mediterranean’ in Timimoun, Algeria, 2024; the GPEAN-UNI event at WUF 11 in Katowice, Poland, 2022; the Smart City Forum in Casablanca, Morocco, 2019; the XII Annual Meeting of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in Katowice, Poland, 2018; the Second UNESCO Creative Cities Summit in Beijing, China, 2016.

PhD SUPERVISION 

Anna Yu Guo, Urban governance in China, University of Liverpool (DoS, 2014 - 2016, MPhil); Sabina Cioboata, Wellbeing in urban China, UoW (DoS, 2017-2022); Hocine Aouchal, HUL in Algeria, University of Annaba (Co-Dos, 2017); Mengran Zhu, Culture-led urban regeneration in China, UoW (DoS, 2018-2024); Shengkang Fu, Place making in Chinese cities, UoW (DoS, 2020); Alain Chiaradia, Urban Form and Travel Patterns, UoW (Co-DoS, 2020-2023); Xiao Ma, London Chinatown, UoW (Co-DoS, 2020-2025).

AWARDS/SPECIAL MENTIONS

Best paper award at the 5th International Forum on Urbanism (IFoU) in Singapore (2011) and Second Prize of Outstanding Research Paper Award, 8th Academic Conference on Social Science of Suzhou, China (2015). The participatory design workshop organised in Shuang Wan Cun, Wujiang District, has been shortlisted as a finalist for the '2015 Asian Townscape Award' of UN-HABITAT, Asia and the Pacific Office, and later on selected as best practice of implementation of the UNESCO HUL Approach.

For details of all my research outputs, visit my WestminsterResearch profile.