Patricia Canelas is Course Director and Lecturer for the Master’s in Sustainable Urban Development at the University of Oxford. She supervises doctoral research in Sustainable Urban Development and is a Fellow of Kellogg College. She previously held academic appointments at University College London, the University of Reading, Escola Superior de Actividades Imobiliárias, and Universidade Católica Portuguesa.
Before returning to academia, Patricia practised as an architect and urbanist for a decade. She continues to contribute to policy and advisory work on planning and urban development, at local, national, and European levels, bringing professional experience into both her research and teaching.
She holds a PhD in Planning from The Bartlett, University College London, an MArch from the University of California, Berkeley, a postgraduate degree in Sustainable Urban Planning and Design from Universidade Católica Portuguesa, and a professional degree in Architecture from Universidade Lusíada.
Her research examines how land institutions—the formal and informal arrangements governing property, development rights, obligations, and land governance—shape urban development through value formation, appropriation, and redistribution. Her work contributes to scholarship, policy and practice on land, property, and urban development.
Her research has been published in leading international journals in planning and urban studies.
