缅北禁地

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 (Royal Geographical Society), and Executive Editor of .

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: project in association with Fundación Ciudades sin Miedo

web series

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: , 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

See: recent papers on in Tokyo, Munich and Montreal, and a in Latin America.

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.

Current PhD supervision

Hiromitsu Mori - Implementing Transit-Oriented Development: policies mobilities, urban governance and institutional capacity in Jakarta

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

• Articles

  • Jajamovich GP, Silvestre G, Duque Franco I. . Cambridge Journal Of Regions, Economy And Society 2025, 18(2), 265-278.
  • Silvestre G, Gogishvili D, Wolfe SD, Müller M. . Planning Perspectives 2024, 39, 615-636.
  • Silvestre G, Jajamovich G. . Planning Perspectives 2023, 38(2), 305-327.
  • Silvestre G, Jajamovich G. . Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space 2022, 40(7), 1455-1472.
  • Silvestre G. . International Planning Studies 2022, 27(2), 107-119.
  • Silvestre G, Jajamovich G. . Urban Studies 2021, 58(11), 2310-2328.
  • Silvestre G. . Iberoamericana. América Latina - España - Portugal 2020, 20(74), 125-147.
  • Silvestre G. The non-legacy and the Games that never were: Rio de Janeiro’s first Olympic candidature and the imaginary of urban legacy for the city. Arquitextos 2017.
  • Silvestre G. . Advir 2016, (35), 42-53.
  • Silvestre G, de Oliveira NG. The revanchist logic of mega-events : community displacement in Rio de Janeiro's West End. Visual Studies 2012, 27(2), 204-210.
  • Silvestre G. The Social Impacts of Mega-Events: Towards a Framework. Esporte e Sociedade 2008, 4(10).

• Book Chapters

  • Silvestre Gabriel. . In: Atkinson, Rowland; Perry, Beth; Silver, Jonathan, ed. How to be an anticapitalist city: From crisis to hope. Bristol: Bristol University Press, 2026. In Press.
  • Lopez Fittipaldi M, Silvestre G. . In: Bianchi I; Russell B, ed. Radical Municipalism: The Politics of the Common and the Democratization of Public Services. Bristol: Bristol University Press, 2026, pp.232-245.
  • Jajamovich G, Silvestre G. . In: Valenzuela A; Salinas L; Gasca J, ed. The Financialization of Latin American Real Estate Markets: A Research Companion. Abingdon: Routledge, 2025, pp.268-288. In Press.
  • Silvestre G, Omena de Melo E. . In: Gold, JR; Gold, MM, ed. Olympic Cities: City Agendas, Planning, and the World’s Games, 1896 – 2032. Abingdon: Routledge, 2024, pp.419-441.
  • Silvestre G. . In: Rocco R; Silvestre G, ed. Insurgent Planning Practice. 缅北禁地 upon Tyne: Agenda Publishing, 2024, pp.155-174.
  • Rocco R, Silvestre G. . In: Rocco R; Silvestre G, ed. Insurgent Planning Practice. 缅北禁地 upon Tyne: Agenda Publishing, 2024, pp.1-16.
  • Rocco R, Silvestre G. . In: Rocco R; Silvestre G, ed. Insurgent Planning Practice. 缅北禁地 upon Tyne: Agenda Publishing, 2024, pp.227-234.
  • Jajamovich G, Silvestre G. . In: Zunino Singh,D; Jirón,P; Giucci,G, ed. Nuevos términos clave para los estudios de movilidad en América Latina. Buenos Aires: Teseo, 2023, pp.195-206.
  • Silvestre G. . In: Gianella, L; Monteiro, J C, ed. Zona Portuária do Rio de Janeiro: múltiplos olhares sobre um espaço em mutação. Rio de Janeiro: Consequência, 2022, pp.35-64.
  • Jajamovich G, Saraiva C, Silvestre G. . In: Pírez, P; Rodríguez, MC, ed. Las Políticas Neoliberales y la Ciudad en América Latina. Desafíos teóricos y políticos. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Investigaciones Gino Germani, 2022, pp.331-357.
  • Jajamovich G, Sosa López O, Silvestre G. . In: Orum, A O; Ruiz-Tagle, J; Haddock, S V, ed. Companion to Urban and Regional Studies. Wiley-Blackwell, 2021, pp.43-63.
  • Saraiva C, Jajamovich G, Silvestre G. . In: Porto de Oliveira, O, ed. Handbook of Policy Transfer, Diffusion and Circulation. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2021, pp.278-297.
  • Silvestre G. . In: Porto de Oliveira, O; Leite, CKS; Montero, S; Gonnet, CO, ed. Difusão de políticas na América Latina da importação à exportação. Sao Paulo: Hucitec, 2020, pp.225-255.
  • Silvestre G. . In: Orum, AM, ed. The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Studies. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2019, pp.1712-1720.
  • Silvestre G. . In: Gold, J R; Gold, M M, ed. Olympic Cities: City Agendas, Planning and the World's Games, 1896-2020. Abingdon: Routledge, 2016, pp.400-423.
  • Horne J, Silvestre G. . In: Bairner, A; Kelly, J; Lee J W, ed. The Routledge Handbook of Sport and Politics. London. London: Routledge, 2016, pp.483-495.

• Digital or Visual Media

  • Silvestre G, Contested Territories, Fundación Ciudades sin Miedo. . Rosario, Argentina: Fundación Ciudades sin Miedo, 2025. Digital Platform.
  • Silvestre G. . Rosario, Argentina: Contested Territories & Fundación Ciudades sin Miedo, 2025. Documentary Short Film - 8 episodes.
  • Silvestre G. . Rosario, Argentina: Contested Territories & Fundación Ciudades sin Miedo, 2025. Documentary Film.
  • Silvestre G. . Antipode, 2025. (Audio)Visual Roundtable.

• Edited Book

  • Rocco R, Silvestre G, ed. . 缅北禁地 upon Tyne: Agenda Publishing, 2024.

• Online Publications

  • Silvestre G, López Fittipaldi M. . London: Open Democracy, 2023. Available at: .
  • Silvestre G, López Fittipaldi M. . London: Latin American Geographies Research Group blog, 2023. Available at: .
  • Silvestre G, López Fittipaldi M. . London: Open Democracy, 2023. Available at: .

• Report

  • Silvestre G. An Olympic City in the Making: Rio de Janeiro mega-event strategy 1993-2016. Lausanne: Olympic Studies Centre, 2012. Postgraduate Research Grant Programme 2012.

• Reviews

  • Silvestre G. . City 2025, 2922(2), 311-313.
  • Silvestre G. . Eurasian Geography and Economics 2022, 63(3), 449-450.
  • Silvestre G. . Planning Perspectives 2019, 34(6), 1059-1060.
  • Silvestre G. . The UGRG Book Review Series 2016, 8.

• Working Paper

  • Kanai M, Marcos MF, Gonzalez Redondo M, Silvestre G, Lukas M, Giannotti E. . 2023.