Scope & Objectives

Research carried out in the Spatial Planning and Environmental Assessment Unit focus on the interaction between spatial dynamics, urban environmental issues and impact assessment and decision systems.

• Currently, spatial dynamics topics comprise the study of urban form and metropolitan structures through space syntax and GIS applications, the understanding of shrinking cities and the effects of land use policies and infrastructure provision on real estate markets.
• The study of the nature of urban environmental issues. urban metabolism, bioclimatic urban design and urban mobility and accessibility patterns
• Finally, decision making and impact assessment research covers EIA, SEA, SIA and TIA as well as planning evaluation and decision support systems.

Research Team

• Integrated Researchers with PhD - Fernando Brandão Alves (Coordinator), Ana Cláudia Monteiro, Ana Monteiro, Anabela Ribeiro, Anastássios Perdicoúlis, António Ferreira, Catarina Cadima, Cecília Silva, Joana Silva, Luísa Batista, Miguel Serra, Miguel Lopes, Muzaffer Ali Arat, Sara Santos Cruz, Sílvia Sousa, Sofia Valente, Vinicius Netto, Vítor Oliveira
• Integrated Researchers without PhD -  Ana Proença, Ana Sousa, Aymen Boudebouz, Carla Gonçalves, Christiano Toralles, Daniel Maia, Eduardo Palheta, Hasan Mansour, Inês Cunha, João Teixeira, João Corgo, João Monteiro, Mariana Diniz, Mehrnaz Zargarzadeh, Nuno Gomes, Olivia Lewis, Paulo Silvestre, Sílvia Spolaor
• Collaborators Researchers - Paulo Pinho, Paulo Seixas, Rúben Fernandes

Main Contributions

Current Research Projects

• 1.45 - Unravelling the Spatial Morphology of European Metropolitan Regions
• 1.53 - Cost Action CA17125 Public Value Capture of Increasing Property Values
• 1.67 - Knowledge Alliance for Evidence Based Urban Practices
• 1.80 - A Cross-Cultural Exploration around the Future of the City and Urban Life in the PostCOVID Era
• 1.81 - CAOP - CLIMATE ADAPTATION FOR OLDER PEOPLE LIVING IN VULNERABLE URBAN AREAS. Designing a climate-responsive and community-based methodology.

Previous Research Projects

• 1.1 - Urban Regeneration in the Metropolitan Area of Oporto
• 1.2 - Urban Planning and Port Management: The Changing Nature of City-Port Interactions
• 1.5 - Urban Planning for Immigrant Integration
• 1.6 - Management Models, Institutional and Financial Solutions for Historic Cities. ATLANTE - Enhance the UNESCO'S World Heritage Atlantic Cities Project
• 1.7 - (IMP)³ - Improving the Implementation of Environmental Impact Assessment
• 1.8 - Spatial Structuring for Metropolitan Planning Purposes: The Case of the Metropolitan Area of Oporto
• 1.14 - ICON - The Impact of Closed Condominiums in the Urban Form
• 1.17 - MOPUS - Mobility Patterns and Urban Structures
• 1.19 - SUME - Sustainable Urban Metabolism for Europe
• 1.20 - SUPER-CITIES - Sustainable Land Use Policies for Resilient Cities
• 1.21 - EVIDENCE - Re-Inventing Analysis, Design and Decision Support Systems for Planning
• 1.22 - TIA for EC, National and Regional Policies
• 1.32 - COST Action TU0803 - Cities Regrowing Smaller (CIRES)
• 1.33 - COST Action TU1002 - Accessibility Instruments for Planning Practice in Europe
• 1.34 - COST Action TU1203 - Crime Prevention through Urban Design and Planning
• 1.35 - COST Action TU1204 – People Friendly Cities in a Data Rich World
• 1.36 - Paths of Population and Housing Development in Portugal: Divergences and Convergences in Space and Planning (Post-doc Project)
• 1.40 - MIA - Metabolic Impact Assessment: From Concept to Practice
• 1.41 - COST Action TU 1104 - Smart Energy Regions
• 1.42 - COST Action C23 – Strategies for a Low Carbon Built Environments
• 1.43 - 3S RECIPE – Smart Shrinkage Solutions – Fostering Resilient Cities in Inner Peripheries of Europe
• 1.46 - Generation.Mobi – Social Network of Interactive Devices For a New Generation of Urban Mobility
• 1.48 - Citizen Sensing – Urban Climate Resilience through Participatory Risk Management Systems
• 1.49 - Accessibility at the Neighbourhood Scale for Pedestrians
• 1.50 - SPLACH - Spatial Planning for Change
• 1.51 - BooST – Boosting Starter Cycling Cities
• 1.52 - MOBI-AGE - Promoting urban mobility in ageing populations
• 1.54 - Emerging Perspectives on Urban Morphology (EPUM)
• 1.59 - URBY.SENSE - Urban mobility analysis and prediction for non-routine scenarios using digital footprints
• 1.66 - IPTC: Public transport and urban development: Improving public transport competitiveness versus the private car

Current PhD Projects

• 1.58 - Mobility and urbanity. The role of spatial planning in the promotion of a sustainable urban mobility
• 1.68 - The Potential of Bike Sharing in Increasing Sustainable Mobility in Cities
• 1.69 - SUSTAINABLE NEIGHBORHOODS- Accessibility to Activities versus Personal Mobility Alternatives
• 1.70 - Towards a quantitative approach to Morphological Regions in GIS
• 1.71 - THE ROLE OF URBAN DESIGN IN BREAKING CAR-ORIENTED MINDSETS
• 1.72 - Mapping informality: the urban forms of ordinary cities
• 1.73 - Form & Function: Benchmarking real and ideal cities
• 1.74 - Towards a quantitative approach to Morphological Regions in GIS
• 1.76 - SUSTAINABLE NEIGHBORHOODS- Accessibility to Activities versus Personal Mobility Alternatives
• 1.77 - Urban quality indicators for informal settlements. The case of the municipality of the city of Nampula, Mozambique
• 1.78 - The assessment of urban identity: The case of Damascus
• 1.79 - Evaluation of Indoor Environmental Quality (Ieq) of Transport Cabins in Developing Countries with Tropical Climate
• 1.80 - Towards Coastal Landscape Governance
• 1.82 - Comparative Analysis of Insular Urban Management Systems and the Case of Tourism: Portugal – Cape Verde
• 1.83 - Evaluation and Modeling of pedestrian behavior on the presence of electric vehicles
• 1.84 - Driving2Driverless: Urban and Regional Transport Management under a Scenario of Shared Electric Fully Automated Mobility
• 1.85 - The Energy Impact of an Urban Form Shaped by Topography
• 1.86 - Bioclimatic design in urban context through the recovery of vernacular solutions

Previous PhD Projects

• 1.3 - Real Estate Market and Urban Change
• 1.4 - Utopic Fragments in the Chaotic City: Closed Condominiums in Greater Oporto
• 1.10 - Environmental Policies and Planning Systems
• 1.11 - Cultural Sustainability: Cultural Space Performance and Urban Spatial Organization
• 1.12 - Evaluation in Urban Planning
• 1.13 - Urban Mobility Policy: a Framework for the Integration of Land Use and Transport Policies for Sustainable Urban Travel
• 1.15 - The Urban Design as a Potential Tool for a Bioclimatic Architecture
• 1.16 - Planning for Shrinking Cities in Portugal
• 1.18 - Thermal Retrofitting of Public Spaces in Compact Urban Areas. A Bioclimatic Approach
• 1.23 - The Impact of Commercial Activity on the Form and Structure of the City: the Case of Portuguese Medium-sized Cities
• 1.24 - Social Impact Assessment (SIA) in Portugal
• 1.25 - The Nature of Spatial Planning Policies in Small Islands
• 1.26 - Resilient Territories: The Case of Ave Valley Region
• 1.27 - Anatomy of an Emerging Metropolitan Territory - Towards an Unified Analytical Framework for Metropolitan Morphology
• 1.28 - Public Housing: (In)extensive Renovation?
• 1.29 - Urban Design and Active Ageing, the Public Space of Residential Areas
• 1.30 - Accessibility Measures in the Portuguese Urban Planning System
• 1.31 - The Publicness of Urban Spaces
• 1.37 - The Requalification of Public Spaces in Social Housing in Porto: Design as a Social Instrument / A Requalificação dos Espaços Públicos nos Conjuntos de Habitação Económica no Porto: o Desenho como Instrumento Social
• 1.38 – Public Space and Active Ageing / O Espaço Público e o Envelhecimento Ativo
• 1.39 - Territory Risk Units as a Means to Understand Territory Risk Scenarios
• 1.44 - Spatial Analysis on Collective Transport Equity: A study in the City of Recife Brazil
• 1.47 - Uncovering Trends and Determinants of the Commuting Patterns in academia, the Case of FEUP’ Students, 2006, 2012 & 2017
• 1.55 - From research in urban morphology to professional planning practice
• 1.56 - Business diversification on public transport
• 1.57 - Adaptive Planning for coastal climate adaptation in port-cities: integrating Adaptation Pathways into planning instruments
• 1.60 - Tourism activity in the process of urbanization of Mozambican cities
• 1.61 - Community Development in Urban Regeneration Projects: The Contribution of Participatory Processes
• 1.62 - Arquitectura Termal em Portugal. Em busca do Balneário Ideal
• 1.63 - Segurança Urbana. A Arquitetura ao Serviço da Diversidade. Olhares Paralelos entre Portugal e o Brasil
• 1.64 - Proposta Metodológica para o Desenvolvimento do Projeto Integrado de Habitação Evolutiva em Portugal
• 1.65 - A influência das atividades económicas no traçado e na forma da cidade brasileira entre 1741 e 1912 - O caso das Cidades de Ouro Preto, Santos e Manaus
• 1.75 - Bike-Sharing Systems - Demand, Location and Impacts