Roberto Rocco

I am an Associate Professor of Spatial Planning and Strategy at the Department of Urbanism, Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), where I conduct research and teach on the governance of the built environment, spatial justice, democratic planning, and sustainability transitions. I am also Co-founder and Co-director of the Centre for the Just City, an interdisciplinary platform dedicated to advancing justice-oriented planning, education and public engagement.

My research examines how planning institutions, governance systems and public policies shape access to land, housing, infrastructure, public goods and democratic participation. I am particularly interested in the ways planning can either reinforce existing inequalities or become an instrument for more just, sustainable and democratic societies. My work brings together political theory, planning theory, governance studies and urban practice to develop practical tools for evaluating and improving planning decisions.

Spatial justice lies at the centre of my research. I understand spatial justice as the fair distribution of opportunities and public goods across space, the meaningful participation of diverse communities in planning processes, and the recognition of different identities, histories and ways of inhabiting the built environment. These distributive, procedural and recognitional dimensions are inseparable and together provide a normative framework for planning and urban policy.

Much of my recent work focuses on the relationship between spatial planning and the major challenges confronting contemporary societies: democratic backsliding, climate change, housing affordability, socio-spatial inequality, and the governance of sustainability transitions. Through projects such as the Horizon Europe UP2030 programme and policy work for the Union for the Mediterranean, I have contributed to developing methodologies that help governments and practitioners integrate justice considerations into planning and decision-making.

Alongside my research, I teach research methodology, governance, strategic spatial planning and planning theory. I coordinate the annual Planning and Design for the Just City Summer School, which brings together around one hundred participants from across the world each year, and I supervise graduate research on topics ranging from informal urbanisation and metropolitan governance to climate adaptation, public goods and spatial justice.

My work is informed by the conviction that planning is never politically neutral. Every planning decision allocates space, resources, opportunities and visibility, benefiting some groups while disadvantaging others. Understanding these processes is essential if planning is to contribute to democratic governance, social sustainability and the creation of places where everyone can flourish.

The background image on this website depicts the district of Cabuçu, in the north-east of São Paulo, Brazil. It illustrates the complex coexistence of different forms of formal and informal urbanisation that characterise many rapidly urbanising metropolitan regions, and reflects my longstanding interest in the political and spatial dynamics of urban development.