Martina Manara

Martina Manara is a Lecturer in Urban Studies and Planning at University College London's Bartlett School of Planning since September 2024. She is also an Associate of the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics (LSE) and Coordinator of the Urbanisation and Development Study Group of the Development Studies Association (UK).

• PhD and MSc in Regional and Urban Planning Studies from LSE
• Leverhulme Early Career Fellow (2023–2024) at University of Sheffield
• ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow (2021–2022) and Guest Lecturer at LSE

Her research explores the intersection of urban planning, economics, and philosophy, focusing on formal/informal institutions, property rights, and sustainable development in African cities. She has published extensively on land titling, institutional hybridity, and governance in Tanzania's informal settlements.

Recent publications (2023–2025) analyze:

• Institutional pluralism and pro-poor land registration
• Tenure security dynamics in urban Tanzania
• Meso-level bricolage in property governance
• Collateral transformation by lenders
• Depoliticization of asylum reception systems

Scientific awards include:

• ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship (2021–2022)
• Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship (2023–2024)

At UCL, she teaches:

• BPLN0002/ BPLN0097: Pillars of Planning – Economics (postgraduate)
• BPLN0084: Urban and Environmental Politics (undergraduate)