Federico Savini is Assistant Professor (UD) at the University of Amsterdam. He is born in Jesi on the 24 th February of 1984. He is joining his background in Sociology and Political Science to the applied research on urban and regional planning. His PhD project focused on the political dynamics of planning projects in the Urban Periphery. He is specialized in matching research on urban politics with planning studies on large scale development projects and land use planning. In 2007, he successfully got his Bachelor cum laude in Economic Sociology at the University of Urbino, Italy , with a study on the theoretical and empirical issues of deliberative democracy in policy making. In 2008 he completed a Master on Comparative Urban Studies cum Laude. During the same year he conducted comparative research at the University of Milano Bicocca and at the University of Copenhagen on inclusive forms of decision making in urban regeneration projects. In September 2009 he completed the Research Master in Metropolitan Studies, cum laude, at the University of Amsterdam. He visited the French Institute of Urban Planning (IFU) inParis and worked in a project coordinated by the Institute of spatial planning of the Region Ile de France (IAU IdF) on the governance in urban renewal projects. In 2010-2011, he was visiting researcher at the Department of Architecture and Planning at the Polytechnic of Milan. Within the frame of his PhD, Federico is advising the Dutch Ministry of Spatial Planning, Environment and Housing (VROM) on the innovation of governmental instruments for spatial planning. He is now coordinating the APRILab project, within the frame of the Joint Programme Initiative 'Urban Europe', in cooperation with the University of Aalto, Yildiz Technical University of Istanbul and the University of Aalborg

Education

2010-2013: PhD researcher at the University of Amsterdam. Thesis Title: Urban Peripheries: the political dynamics of planning projects, University of Amsterdam.

2010-2011: Visiting Scholar at Department of Architecture and Planning, Polytechnic of Milan. teaching-tutorship in Master level Workshop on Urban Policy Design.

2008-2009: visiting at Institut Francais d'Urbanisme, Master course Metropolitan strategies. Participation in workshop on Urban regeneration in Southern Paris Suburbs, in cooperation with IAURIF.

2 007-2009 Research Master in metropolitan studies (MSc) Cum Laude - Amsterdam institute for Metropolitan and International Development Studies (AMIDSt) - University of Amsterdam - International School of Human Sciences (ISHSS)

2006-2007 European MA in Comparative Urban Studies - E - Urbs cum Laude coordinated by University of Urbino - University of Milan - University of Copenhagen

2003-2006: Bachelor's degree in Sociology - minor in Economic Sociology - University of Urbino

Previous Research

2009: participation on the study 'Projets de rénovation et intégration urbaine de huit quartiers dans le territoire du Centre Essonne Seine Orge', commissioned by Agence d'Urbanisme et de Développement Essonne Seine Orge, coordinated by IAU IdF and the Institut Français d'urbanisme

2008 - 2009 : workshop manager and advising to the Province of Pesaro Urbino, Italy, on techniques and tools for e-democracy participation.

2 007-2008:    Research project on "e-Democracy" Commissioned by Region of Marche and coordinated by the Laboratory of Political and Social Studies (LaPolis) - University Urbino.

2007: student assistantship on research project on Territorial Cohesion in EU, Amsterdam institute for Metropolitan and International Development Studies (AMIDSt)

2007: Research period at the University of Copenhagen, Institute of Geography. Kvarterloft and Neighbouhrood regeneration policies

2007 December: Research on urban renewal in Copehagencity region: Short Term scientific Mission - COST Action A26 Department of Geography - University of Copenhagen

2006-2007: Researcher in project "Youth policies in the Region of Marche" Commissioned by Region of Marche to the Laboratory of Political and Social Studies (LaPolis) - University of Urbino

Language Skills

Italian: mother tongue

English: excellent

French: excellent

Dutch: basic level NT2

Spanish: basic reading, listening

Urban Peripheries: PhD Research Project (completed March 2013)

The PhD research by Federico Savini addresses the challenges, dilemmas and problematics of spatial planning in the contemporary urban periphery. His work focuses on patterns of decision making in large scale urban development. He adopts a comparative methodology to explore the way public, private and civic actors interacts and cooperate in order to govern planning processes and in the way institutional innovation is achieved in the practice of inter-municipal cooperation and metropolitan governance. By using theories on urban politics, the project particularly look at the political dynamics driving urban projects taking place in the urban periphery. The urban Periphery is an emerging and highly challenging space for planning. Urban transformations need to mediate between the creation of new spatial qualities and the coping with existing socio-economic problems. The project address the electoral and ideological background of development policies targeting the urban periphery in European cities. In particular, it looks at the behavior of political coalitions and political elites, and at their links with large private developers. The research is an international comparison of three projects currently taking place in the city regions of Amsterdam, Paris and Milan . The project develops with the cooperation of the Dutch Ministry of Spatial Planning, Environment and Housing

APRILab: Action oriented planning, regulation and investment dilemmas for innovative urban development in living lab experiences

The project investigates the emerging dilemmas in the practice of urban development in the urban periphery though techniques of action-based research. It focuses on the combined innovation of planning regulations, financial arrangements and urban interventions in different European contexts. Innovation in planning practice through processes of co-creation has become a priority, not only for urban agencies in practice but also for scientific research. Planning practice is puzzled by upcoming concepts of adaptability, resilience, and self-organization which present idealized visions of governance. Urban development often still takes place through traditional forms of rational approaches of research and practice, characterized by its instrumental focus on goal-specific tasks, means, and outcomes rather than searching for context based adaptability under the guidance of generic principles. APRILab entails research into fundamental political dilemmas that constrain effective innovation. It focuses on three major dilemmas to conceptualize the different trade-offs for governance innovation between the extremes of self-organization and control:

Planning, between control of spatial processes and accommodation of emergent urban change; 

Regulation, between instrumentalism and generic normative guidance of self-regulation; 

Investment, between supply and demand driven investments. 

The project is funded by The Dutch National Agency of Scientific Research (NWO)  within the frame of the Joint Program Initiative ‘URBAN EUROPE’

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