Elisabetta Pietrostefani is a Fellow in Geographic Data Science. She is an urban geographer and geographic data scientist interested in applying data and technologies to improve the understanding of urban development and inequalities. She holds a PhD in Planning Policy and Urban Economics from the London School of Economics.
Her research focuses on the evaluation of urban policies in multiple geographies and undertakes a variety of empirical strategies. She has analysed the effects of density policies and urban development, assessed well-being and inequalities in contexts of mass displacement and most recently investigated informal labour markets to evaluate livelihood strategies. Elisabetta’s research adopts different analytic tools, from mixed methods to spatial techniques to test theoretical predictions.
Before re-joining the department in September 2021, Elisabetta was a Research Fellow at University College London. She was a principal investigator and co-investigator on several research projects focusing on urban inequalities in the Middle East funded by the Leverhulme Trust and the UKRI Global Challenges research fund. Elisabetta has also consulted foragencies such asthe OECD, UN-Habitat and UNHCR.
Awards:
UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund Assessing Vulnerabilities for urban recovery solutions in Beirut Post-Explosion
AISRe Giorgio Leonardi Best PhD Dissertation Award, Italian Regional Science Association, Italy
Selected publications:
Jallad M., Mintchev N., Pietrostefani E., Daher M. & Moore H.L., (2021) Citizen Social Science and Pathways to Prosperity: Co-designing Research and Impact in Beirut, Lebanon, International Journal of Social Research Methodology
RELIEF Centre & UN-Habitat Lebanon, (2020), Hamra Neighbourhood Profile 2020, Beirut: UN-Habitat Lebanon.
Pietrostefani, E. & Holman, N.(2020) The politics of conservation planning: a comparative study of urban heritage making in the Global North and the Global South, Progress in Planning, 100505
Ahlfeldt, G. & Pietrostefani, E. (2019) The economic effects of density: a synthesis, Journal of Urban Economics, 111, 93-107.