Property at the margins: peripheral sub/urbanization, informal land markets and popular economies in Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Funding period: 29 June 2021 – 28 February 2022
Type of funding:
International Fellowship
Dr. João B. M. Tonucci Filho is Assistant Professor of Urban and Regional Economics at the Center for Development and Regional Planning at the Faculty of Economic Sciences and a collaborating professor at the Graduate Program in Architecture and Urbanism, both at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil. He is also a research associate of the National Institute of Science and Technology Observatório das Metrópoles.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics, a master’s in Architecture and Urbanism, and a PhD in Geography. As a critical urban scholar, his research lies at the intersection of urban political economy, economic geography and urban planning, covering topics such as metropolitan planning, property markets, land and housing policy, popular economies, urban commons and the right to the city.
For ten years now, Dr. Tonucci has taken part in the coordinating team of a large interdisciplinary project for the development and planning of the Belo Horizonte metropolitan region (PDDI-RMBH). Having previously worked at the Belo Horizonte Urban Planning Department, he still acts as an advisor to public agencies and as a close collaborator with urban social movements in his hometown.
His ongoing study examines how popular/informal property markets are important vectors of sub/urbanization in Belo Horizonte. Drawing from qualitative and quantitative empirical material accumulated over the past five years, this research aims to update studies on peripheral urbanization, urban informality and popular economies in the Global South, strengthening dialogues between recent discussions in critical urban studies and the Latin-American literature.
As a UFS International Fellow, Dr. Tonucci will spend eight months working with Professor Roger Keil at the City Institute (CITY) and the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change at York University, Toronto.
Profile | Twitter: @joaotonucci | Email: joaotonucci@cedeplar.ufmg.br