Join us for a talk with Marcela Alonso Ferreira, a researcher on urban politics and policies in Latin America. Based on her current PhD dissertation, the presentation will discuss changes in the governance of informal land tenure in Mexico City and Sao Paulo by drawing on historical comparative analysis. A debate on urban policy change in Latin American cities will ensue.

Marcela Alonso Ferreira (PhD candidate at Sciences Po, Paris) is an urban planner-turned-political scientist interested in the politics of urban policies. She is affiliated with the Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics and the Urban School of Sciences Po, where she teaches qualitative research methods. Marcela has obtained her Master’s degree in Public Policy and Management from Fundação Getulio Vargas and her Bachelor’s degree in Architecture and Urbanism from the University of São Paulo, both in São Paulo, Brazil. Before joining Sciences Po in 2020, she developed applied research projects with the non-governmental organizations CIPPEC, Instituto Escolhas, URBEM, and Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. In addition, she worked as an advisor for the City Hall of São Paulo and a consultant for the World Bank Group and Cities Alliance. Her academic and applied research activities cover various topics within urban studies, including socio-environmental disasters, transport, urban agriculture, and, most importantly, land policy.