Carmelo Ignaccolo

Carmelo Ignaccolo, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. His research focuses on urban design, climate resilience, spatial inequalities, and heritage preservation, combining geospatial analytics, digital humanities, and participatory methods. He holds a Ph.D. in Urban Planning from MIT, a Master's in Architecture and Urban Design from Columbia University (as a Fulbright Fellow), and a combined BEng+MArch from the University of Catania.

Research interests include environmental justice, Mediterranean urbanism, shrinking towns, and data co-creation for equitable planning. His work has been published in Cities, Journal of Urban Technology, and Magazine on Urbanism, and featured in The New York Times and Bloomberg CityLab. Prior to academia, he worked at AECOM and the United Nations Habitat Programme in Kenya and Saudi Arabia.

Teaching focuses on graphic communication, design representation, and planning practice in marginalized communities. His projects span East Africa, China, and Mediterranean regions, addressing port cities, waterfront revitalization, and climate adaptation strategies.