In this ongoing project, I examine the emergence and institutionalization of socially progressive and environmentally sustainable planning practices in Medellín, Colombia. I use a historical institutionalism lens in combination with literature on decentralization, governance, and planning theory, to analyze the tactics, timing and sequencing used by different actors to change municipal planning institutions, the factors that lead to successful enforcement mechanisms, and those that challenge institutionalization

Manuscripts in development:

Decentralization, experimentation, and the challenge of institutionalization (under review)

Institutional design and metropolitan environmental planning: bridging the gap between municipal autonomy and regional environmental needs

Elements of Institutionalization

Building on the literature on customer assistance programs, I am currently analyzing actions to improve the affordability of water and sanitation services by low-income individuals through lifeline programs in eight Colombian cities. Using mixed methods, I am currently gathering data to better understand the role of social movements and civil society organizations in pushing municipalities to adopt lifelines, how they interact with city hall, city council, the courts, and the national government, and the characteristics of the municipalities that establish these programs.

Manuscripts in development:

Water and sanitation utilities and national affordability mandates: Evidence from Colombia’s volumetric allowance policy (R&R)

Urban social movements and the emergence of water affordability programs.

My most recent research project looks at conservation organizations and their intersection with urban planning practices. I examine why these organizations, which could be playing an important role in environmental planning processes, are highly insulated from them, and the impacts this has both for urban planning and for conservation practice.

Manuscripts in development:

Environmental Conservation Organizations and the Politics of Urban Environmental Service Scarcity

Urban environmental governance and the challenge of overcoming atomized engagement

In this project, I analyze how municipalities with limited administrative capacity and reduced civil society mobilization address growing needs to plan for and implement climate change adaptation. I use water, sanitation, urban greenery and solid waste management in Galápagos, Ecuador, as lenses to analyze what issues get prioritized in the local climate change adaptation agenda, who mobilizes for what and their motivations, and how municipal, provincial and non-state actors interact (or fail to) in pursuit of climate change adaptation. Portions of this research are being carried out in partnership with community scientists in San Cristobal, Galápagos and members of the Galápagos Education and Research Alliance.

Manuscripts in development:

Community Science and Urban Tree Inventories: lessons from a transnational partnership

Institutional legacies and planning under a changing climate in Galápagos, Ecuador

In this study, Daniel Daza (Rutgers University) and I examine comparatively the role of state and non-state actors in driving state-led climate change adaptation planning in fifteen cities in Latin America.

Manuscripts in development:

Who pursues climate adaptation and why? A comparative analysis of climate adaptation planning in fifteen Latin American cities.

How are informal settlements addressed in climate change adaptation plans? A comparative analysis of fifteen Latin American Cities.