Lorenzo Vidal-Folch

Lorenzo Vidal-Folch Duch is a postdoctoral researcher at the Faculty of Political Science and Sociology at UNED, working under Spain’s prestigious “María Zambrano” international talent program. He holds a PhD in Sociology from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, where his doctoral research examined cooperative housing models in Denmark and Uruguay as transformative alternatives to market-driven urban development. His work explores the political economy of urban space, land governance, and collective forms of housing and ownership.

Before joining UNED, Lorenzo was a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow at the Institute for Housing and Urban Research (IBF) at Uppsala University in Sweden, where he contributed to the “Housing and Urban Justice” project. He has also worked as a researcher and project manager at the Institute of Government and Public Policy (IGOP) at UAB and at CIDOB – Barcelona Centre for International Affairs. Throughout his career, he has combined academic research with direct engagement in policy design and urban innovation processes, often working closely with local governments, grassroots organizations, and community housing initiatives.

His publications focus on cooperative housing, community land ownership, and anti-speculative land models such as Community Land Trusts. Bridging critical urban theory and policy-oriented analysis, his research addresses broader questions of spatial justice, democratic governance, and the digital transformation of cities. In addition to his academic work, he regularly participates in public debates, academic conferences, and training programs aimed at promoting more inclusive and sustainable approaches to urban development.