Skip to main content

Staff Profile

Dr Gabriel Silvestre

Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, Degree Programme Director MSc Urban Planning

Background

I joined the School in 2021, following previous academic appointments at the University of Sheffield, University College London, and the University of Westminster.

My interdisciplinary background reflects a sustained interest in the intersections of urban studies and policy analysis. I hold a BA in Management Studies (Mackenzie University), an MA in Tourism Management (University of Westminster), and a PhD in Planning Studies from the Bartlett School of Planning, UCL. Beyond academia, I have professional experience in the public sector, having worked with organisations such as VisitBritain and the City of London Corporation.

At APL, I lead the MSc Urban Planning programme and serve as Deputy Director for Internationalisation and Reputation. Externally, I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a founding member of the Latin American Geographies Research Group (Royal Geographical Society), and Executive Editor of International Planning Studies.

Research

My research is situated at the intersection of urban governance, policy-making, and social justice, with a particular focus on the role of knowledge and ideas in shaping policy processes. I adopt a relational and comparative approach that is attentive to the (postcolonial) development trajectories of cities in the Global South and the contemporary dynamics of localising global urban models. These interests currently converge around three thematic areas:


1. Insurgent, Popular, and Prefigurative Planning

While calls to explore spatial planning practices beyond the state are longstanding, planning theory and education remain predominantly centred on state-led action. Critical traditions - such as advocacy, radical, and insurgent planning - provide important foundations, yet contemporary contexts marked by resource scarcity and conflict demand new analytical lenses. My research examines how urban communities and social movements engage in planning “together, despite, and against” the state. It investigates how these actors appropriate, transform, and invent spatial practices to inhabit and reshape their environments, offering insights into emergent grassroots forms of planning that challenge conventional paradigms.


See: Urban Prefigurations project in association with Fundación Ciudades sin Miedo

Community-Led Planning web series

A Place in the City documentary film


2. Expertise, Policy Mobilities, and Urban Change

Ideas are central to politics and provide a strategic entry point for understanding how structural forces are mediated through agency. My work explores how diverse actors—elected officials, planners, private interests, and activists—mobilise ideas to shape policy debates and promote urban change. This often involves leveraging expert networks and circulating ‘best practices’ to legitimise preferred actions. I have examined how the localisation of policy templates such as strategic planning, waterfront redevelopment, and smart city initiatives enables coalitions of actors while marginalising others. Current research investigates how activist groups draw on expertise and new communication practices to contest revanchist urban policies and reframe political discourse.


Current project: Contested Territories: From Contested Territories to Alternatives of Development, EU Horizon 2020 MSCA-RISE


3. Governing Mega-Projects and Mega-Events

Large-scale development projects and the hosting of mega-events (Olympics, World Cups, Expos) have become recurrent strategies to accelerate urban development, often reshaping governance arrangements and democratic accountability. Far from being mere image-building exercises, these projects can steer cities onto development trajectories with long-lasting impacts. Building on previous research on Rio de Janeiro’s transformation during the Olympic Games, I am interested in comparative analyses of Global South experiences and the ways these projects ‘capture’ national and local urban agendas


PhD supervision

I welcome inquiries from prospective doctoral researchers interested in advancing critical debates on urban politics, planning systems, and social justice. I am particularly keen to supervise projects that engage with themes such as:

  • Policy mobilities and the role of ideas in policy-making processes, exploring how knowledge circulates and shapes urban governance.
  • The governance of megaprojects and mega-events, and their implications for democratic accountability and urban transformation.
  • The right to the city, social movements, and participatory practices, examining grassroots strategies for contesting and reshaping urban agendas.
  • Critical and postcolonial planning theory, with a focus on interrogating dominant paradigms and amplifying Global South perspectives.
  • Methods: qualitative, archival research, audio-visual.
Teaching

Areas of expertise 

Globalisation and urban change; postcolonial urban theory; planning theory; urban development in the Global South; governance, participation and contestation; right to the city and social movements; qualitative research methods.

Undergraduate teaching 

APL2035 Participation: Theories & Practice 

TCP2027 Research Skills

TCP2028 Understanding Cities

TCP2030 Urban Poverty: A Global Perspective

Postgraduate teaching

TCP8025 Linked Research Project

TCP8920 Global Urban Challenges Project

TCP8921 Global Urban Challenges

TCP8929 Planning, Power and People

TCP8954 Housing and Settlements


 

Publications