Santiago Leyva Del Rio

Santiago Leyva Del Rio is a Research Fellow in Geography, currently serving as a Postdoctoral Research Associate on the project 'Austerity and Altered Life-Courses' (2021–2025). His work examines the intersection of housing crises, social reproduction, and grassroots resistance in urban contexts, with a focus on European austerity impacts.

Education:
PhD in Geography from Birkbeck, University of London (awarded 2021).

Research Focus:
Leyva Del Rio investigates urban inequality through lenses of housing financialization, cooperative models, and social movements. Key themes include de-commodification of essential services, youth precarity under austerity, and transformative urban praxis. His geographical approach emphasizes relational analyses of policy impacts across scales.

Publication Trends:
Recent works (2022–2025) converge on austerity’s societal effects, resistance strategies, and alternative urban futures. Articles consistently engage with housing justice, collective action, and institutional critiques, employing mixed qualitative methodologies across European case studies.

Awards:

• Team recognitions: Making a Difference Award (2024), UKRI Public Engagement Prize (2024), NCRM Impact Prize (2023)
• Individual scholarships: CEU Master’s Scholarship (2015), SSHP Research Scholarship (2017)

Collaborations:
Active in cross-institutional teams studying welfare policy impacts, notably with PI S.M. Hall. Joint outputs address childcare innovation, university solidarity, and intergenerational inequality.