About
Hossam Hewidy is a Senior University Lecturer in Urban and Regional Planning at Aalto University's Department of Architecture, where he serves as Head of Major in Architecture for the Master’s Programme and Head of the Minor in Urban and Regional Planning. With dual expertise as an architect and urban planner, he bridges professional practice and academic research in Nordic urban contexts.
His educational background includes a DSc, MSc, and BA in Architecture. Research interests span multicultural planning, placemaking, power dynamics in planning, spatial justice, land use and climate change mitigation, planning education, and public libraries as urban hubs. His work critically examines immigrant entrepreneurship, ethnic retail landscapes, and spatial justice through Helsinki case studies.
Recent publications (2021-2025) reveal three dominant trends: (1) Analysis of public libraries as social infrastructure across Nordic cities, (2) Investigation of spatial justice in Helsinki planning competitions and immigrant spaces, and (3) Exploration of urban resilience through Finnish regional development frameworks. His scholarship consistently centers marginalized voices in planning processes.
Hewidy's scientific recognition includes:
- Best Diploma Thesis Grant by OSKARI VILAMON RAHASTON (2020) for supervising Heta Seppälä's urban metabolism research
- Lappset Prize (2018) for supervising award-winning landscape architecture thesis
He has secured funding from the Academy of Finland, Finnish Ministry of Environment’s Neighbourhood Renewal Programme, BEMINE consortium, and EU regional instruments. As AESOP Executive Committee member and GPEAN Secretary, he shapes global planning education standards while leading curriculum development for post-pandemic mixed-modality teaching in architecture studios.
His departmental leadership extends to evolving the Architecture Major and Urban Planning Minor programs, with current focus on integrating climate resilience into spatial planning education and examining public libraries as critical social infrastructure in urban transformation.
