New Practices in Urban Transformation: Towards Inclusionary Heritage

Drawing on 40 years of theory and practice, this talk uses the case of São Paulo’s Bixiga neighbourhood as an entry point to explore how a critical approach to urban planning practices can help city planners move towards a more inclusionary understanding of heritage management. The event is organized by the DPU’s Urban Transformations Research Cluster.

Speaker Profile:

Nadia Somekh is an emeritus professor of Architecture and Urban Planning at Mackenzie University whose current research focusses on heritage and urban projects in the contemporary city as well on the vertical growth of Brazilian cities. Amongst other titles, Nadia is author of “A Cidade Vertical e o Urbanismo Modernizador” (“The Vertical City and Modernist Urbanism”). Outside of academia, between 2013 and 2016 Nadia served as President of CONPRESP (São Paulo City Heritage Council) and director of DPH (Heritage Department of São Paulo City).  Among other public positions, Nadia has also spent time as President of EMURB (Municipal Urbanization Company) and as Economic Development Secretary in Santo André City.