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 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); and ‘Urban China’s Rural Fringe’ (2016).

I regularly serve as an expert for international organisations, charities and NGOs such as Cities Alliances, the European Commission, King's Foundation, UN-HABITAT, Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), ICOMOS, UNESCO, WHITRAP, and UN Tourism. 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.

My research examines urban transformation as a contested process shaped by governance, power relations, and competing claims over space, resources, and heritage. Drawing on urban political economy, I analyse the uneven social, economic, and spatial impacts of rapid development and post-crisis interventions in the Global South and China, with particular attention to equity, inclusion, and resilience. I explore how civil society actors negotiate space within state–market structures to support community-oriented and culturally sensitive transitions. My work addresses urban redevelopment, heritage-led urban and rural regeneration, and post-disaster reconstruction, with the aim of advancing more equitable and resilient urban futures.

I also design and evaluate capacity-building programs and knowledge exchanges, testing alternative governance and design solutions for real-world challenges.

Methodologically, I combine qualitative and spatial analysis with participatory approaches such as foresight, scenario planning, and community co-design, having conducted fieldwork in Brazil, urban and rural China, Morocco, Turkey, Uruguay, and Uzbekistan. 

My work has appeared in leading journals, including International Development Planning Review, Habitat International, International Journal of Heritage Studies, Planning Theory & Practice, International Planning Studies, Town Planning Review, and Planning Practice and Research, among others.

A SELECTION OF  RESEARCH PROJECTS

-       Resilient Urban Heritage: A UK–Turkey TNE Initiative on Culturally Sensitive Urban Disaster Preparedness (British Council, PI, 2025 – ongoing)

-       Engagement strategies for better climate resilience governance in disaster situations (ERSC UK-Brazil Global Talent Exchange Scheme, CI, 2024-2025);

-       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);

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

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

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

EXTERNAL ENGAGEMENT

I am the vice-President of ILAUD, the International Laboratory of Architecture and Urban Design; 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, geography 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, Architectural Association, Leicester University.

I have been frequently invited to speak, including delivering keynote speeches, at a number of high-level international gatherings, including Urban Thinker Campus, World Urban Forum, UNESCO Creative Cities Summit, UN Tourism Village Talks, Casablanca Smart City Expo; and in events organised by Union of the Mediterranean, WHITRAP Shanghai, the European Commission, the CNR (Rome), CNRS-EHESS (Paris), among others, and academic institutions worldwide.

PHD STUDENTS TO COMPLETION

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). 

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