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Staff Profile

Dr Natalia Villamizar Duarte

Lectureship in Urban Design

  • Email: natalia.villamizar-duarte@ncl.ac.uk
  • Telephone: 0191 208 6006
  • Address: School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape
    Newcastle University, Henry Daysh Building, Room 8.08
    Newcastle upon Tyne
    NE1 7RU, UK
Background

I am an urban planner and designer interested in people’s experiences of their cities, and particularly in the policies that shape those experiences. I have over 20 years of experience in urban design, urban planning, and policymaking in both academic and professional settings where I have interacted with diverse stakeholders. I have a personal interest in the diverse forms of knowledge and spatial practices of the global south, and in their potential to inform urban design repertoire to advance more sustainable cities and urban communities.


Qualifications

  • PhD in Urban Planning and Policy at University of Illinois at Chicago (2019) Negotiating Ideology and Regulation: planning and governing public space in Bogota 1988-2018
  • MSc. in Development and Planning: Building and Urban Design in Development at University College London (2007)
  • Specialisation Degree in Urban Design at Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá (2004)
  • Graduate degree in Architecture at Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá (2001)


Affiliations

International Network for Transport and Accessibility in Low Income Communities – Latin American chapter INTALInC LAC


Languages

Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian (basic) 

 

Office Hours

Tuesdays 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm. In my office or email me for online meeting

Teaching

My interest in teaching comes from my commitment to use creative approaches to make cities more inclusive and equitable. I seek to challenge students to think critically of the role they play in the construction of just and sustainable cities and urban communities. I engage in critical pedagogical approaches that bridge theory and practice while challenging students to reflect on the relationships between power and knowledge that exist in policymaking, urban design and planning practices. 

 

Postgraduate Teaching

  • ARC8115 Design Studio [MA Urban Design]
  • ARC8069 Housing Alternatives [MA Urban Design]
  • ARC8117 Design Thesis [MA Urban Design]
  • TCP8025 Link Research Project


I also contribute to:

  • TCP8920 Globalisation and Social Justice Project
  • TCP8921 Globalisation and Social Justice


I mentor Design Thesis of MA in Urban Design students 


I am personal tutor to several MA students.



Research

My research examines how urban models, ideas, political processes, and regulations that shape urban space intersect into policymaking, urban planning, urban design, and community practices. I look at the intersections in four broader areas:


  • urban mobility, accessibility & social equity 
  • use, design & governance of public spaces
  • informal urbanisation & neighbourhood upgrading 
  • participatory urban design & co-production


Current funded projects

Co-Investigator, ‘Archivo Vivo [Living archive]: weaving gendered (hi)stories of urban reclamation in Moravia’, funded by Imagining Futures through Un/Archived Pasts. Phase 2 Commission Projects. More information: https://imaginingfutures.world/projects/archivo-vivo-living-archive-weaving-gender-histories-of-urban-reclamation-in-moravia/

 

Recent funded projects

Principal Investigator, ‘Usage and perception of e-scooters in Newcastle’, funded by The Global Urban Research Unit, School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, Newcastle University 


Co-Investigator, ‘Counter mapping diaspora and queer communities’ living heritage in Sheffield’, funded by The Centre for Critical Heritage Studies Small Grant Scheme. More information: https://sheffieldotherwise.wordpress.com  


Future projects

Co-Investigator, On the way to and from school (OWS): active mobility interventions for the promotion of physical activity and mental well-being in adolescents in Bogotá, Colombia and Maputo, Mozambique, Funded by the Global Alliance for Non-Communicable Diseases 

Publications

  • Articles

  • Book Chapters

    • Da Cruz C, Cabral M, Villamizar Duarte N, Arenas García N. Local Policy Development for the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction: Reflexions from Brazilian Local Governments. In: Lourenço Magnoni Junior, Maria da Graça Mello Magnoni, Mayleen Cabral, Mardilson Machado Torres, Cláudio Eduardo de Castro, Luciana de Resende Londe, Roberto Serrano-Notivoli, Wellington dos Santos Figueiredo, Humberto Alves Barbosa e José Ignacio Prieto, ed. Ensino de geografi a e a redução do risco de desastres em espaços urbanos e rurais. São Paulo: Centro Paula Souza, 2022, pp.15-38.
    • Villamizar Duarte N, Oviedo D, Ardila Pinto AM. Urban Mobility and Social Equity: An Introduction. In: Oviedo, D; Villamizar Duarte, N; Ardila Pinto, AM, ed. Urban Mobility and Social Equity in Latin America: Evidence, Concepts, Methods, Vol. 12. Emerald Publishing Limited, 2020, pp.1-10.
    • Villamizar Duarte N, Ardila Pinto AM. Políticas de movilidad y gestión de la pandemia en ciudades latinoamericanas. In: Delgado Ramos, GC; Lopez Garcia, D, ed. Las ciudades ante el COVID-19: nuevas direcciones para la investigación urbana y las políticas públicas. México D.F: Plataforma de Conocimiento para la Transformación Urbana & International Network for Government Science Advice, 2020, pp.134-147.
    • Perry DC, Villamizar Duarte N. Universities as urban anchor institutions and the social contract in the developed world. In: Bank L; Cloete N; van Schalkwyk F, ed. Anchored in Place: Rethinking universities and development in South Africa. Cape Town: African Minds, 2018, pp.23-41.
    • Villamizar Duarte N. Bordes Urbanos Como Procesos Territoriales. In: Villamizar Duarte,N; Talavera Davila,H, ed. Bordes Urbanos: procesos de construcción territorial. Bogotá: Editorial UN, 2018, pp.10-15.
    • Perry DC, Villamizar Duarte N. The Social Contract: A Political and Economic Overview. In: Pagano, M, ed. Remaking the Urban Social Contract: Health, Energy, and the Environment. University of Illinois Press, 2016, pp.3-32.

  • Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

    • Ortiz V, Villamizar Duarte N. Reconfiguración de Entornos Peatonales: Una propuesta de diseño aplicada a corredores del centro tradicional de Medellín. In: XIII Seminario Internacional de Investigación en Urbanismo, Barcelona-Bogotá, Junio 2021. 2022, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana de Bogotá, Universidad de Los Andes, Universidad Piloto de Colombia.
    • Oviedo D, Sabogal O, Villamizar Duarte N, Chong A, Cohen J. Exploring the Links between Livability and Land Prices: Health Determinants and Inequalities in Cali, Colombia. In: International Conference on Transport and Health (ICTH). 2022, Cardiff, UK: Elsevier BV.
    • Villamizar Duarte N. Informalization as a Process: Theorizing Informality as a Lens to rethink Planning Theory and Practice in Bogota, Colombia. In: RC21 Conference 2015 The Ideal City: between myth and reality. 2015, Urbino, Italy.

  • Edited Books

  • Editorial

    • Villamizar Duarte N. Presentación al Dossier: Bordes urbanos - Teorías, políticas y prácticas para la construcción de territorios de diálogo. Bitácora Urbano Territorial 2014, 2(24), 31-33.