Full Professor of Urban Economics since 1987, first at the University of Padua and then from 1994 at Politecnico di Milano, where he was professor of Economics and evaluation of urban transformations and of Regional Economics.
He was awarded the title of Fellow of the RSAI - Regional Science Association International and has received awards for his scientific activity from numerous Italian and foreign institutions and universities.
He has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Paris 1 - Panthéon Sorbonne, the University of California Santa Cruz, the University of Toulouse, the Menendez Pelayo University in Barcelona, the University of Viña del Mar – Valparaiso and the Autonomous University of Mexico City.
He was President of the European Regional Science Association (2003-2005); during the first Prodi government he was Head of the Urban Areas Department at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (1997-98). Vice-President of the Urban Affairs Group of the OECD Territorial Development Service.
He has carried out research for the European Union, the OECD, the Ministère de l'Equipement, the French DATAR and Plan Urbain, the Italian Ministries of Infrastructure, of Community Policies (for European regional policies) and of Cultural Heritage, as well as for numerous regional and municipal administrations in Italy and in Europe.
He has authored over 150 scientific publications, many of which are international, including articles, essays and contributions to books, on the main issues of urban and regional economics: from location theory to urban crisis, going through measures of competitiveness, income, urban sustainability and regional cohesion policiesup to the impact of technological changes on cities and land. One of his textbooks has been translated into French and Spanish.
His research activity has made him one of the Italian scholars of reference in the most important European forums dealing with urban and regional policies.
Extract from the 2018 nomination statement