L. Chiappini

L. Chiappini is an Assistant Professor of Digitalisation and Sustainability at the University of Twente (Netherlands), with a dual appointment as a Distinguished Urban Fellow at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies (NIAS) for 2024-25. Affiliated with the Department of Governance and Technology for Sustainability within the Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences, their work critiques extractive platform-driven digital markets and explores alternative urban digital platforms that empower grassroots resistance and socio-economic justice. Chiappini holds a PhD in Sociology and Urban Studies from the University of Milan-Bicocca and University of Amsterdam, with earlier academic roles including Lecturer at Utrecht University of Applied Sciences and Visiting Professor at TU Wien.

Education: PhD in Sociology & Urban Studies (University of Milan-Bicocca & Amsterdam, joint programme), MA in Sociology (Milan-Bicocca & Aalborg), BA in Literature & Philosophy (Parma University).

Research focuses on feminist, anti-colonial, and queer critiques of digital platforms; urban digital governance; participatory co-creation; and artistic practices in digital fabrication. Methodologically, they blend ethnography, digital methodologies, GIS mapping, and UX walkthroughs. Activist collaborations include co-founding the collective Slutty Urbanism (part of the 2020-21 Venice Biennale’s Austrian Pavilion).

Publications span topics like platform capitalism’s socio-spatial impacts, civic crowdfunding alternatives, and critical analyses of Airbnb’s urban effects. Their work emphasizes 'urban digital platforms' as tools for marginalized communities to reclaim urban spaces and resist exploitative technologies.

Engagement includes writing for academic journals and media, as well as activist collaborations with arts communities in Italy and the Netherlands. Current projects explore digital geographies of power and 'care' in digital urbanism through participatory practices.