Amalia Calderón-Argelich

Affiliated Researcher

Amalia is an affiliated researcher at the BCNUEJ and a postdoctoral researcher (Juan de la Cierva fellow) at the TURBA Lab of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC). She is a socio-environmental scientist working at the intersection of environmental justice, urban planning, and climate adaptation from a feminist and participatory perspective.

Her research explores how urban greening and climate adaptation strategies shape social inequalities and vulnerabilities, with a particular focus on heat justice and green and climate gentrification, but also distributional justice and access to greening. She also investigates how public green and blue spaces are used and perceived by historically marginalized groups, with special attention to gender inequities and in the context of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. Combining quantitative, qualitative, participatory, and spatial methods, her work examines how climate policies and infrastructures influence everyday urban experiences and patterns of displacement.

Amalia also engages in creative and performative collaborations that bridge scientific and artistic perspectives. Beyond academia, she is involved in knowledge co-production, public dissemination, and collaborative processes that connect research with policy and society. Through these dialogues, she promotes inclusive and caring approaches to urban transformation and advocates for an academia grounded in care, justice and collective well-being.

Research lines:
Environmental Gentrification and Climate-Linked Displacement
Infrastructures and Social Mobilizations for Just Urban Societies

CV  Google Scholar Researchgate

Keywords

  • Urban Environmental Planning
  • Urban Green Infrastructure
  • Environmental Justice
  • Climate Justice
  • Environmental Gentrification
  • Ecosystem Services
  • Social and Gender Equity
  • Gender Perspective
  • Participatory Research
  • Urban Vulnerabilities
  • Greening policies

Affiliated Projects

Selected Publications

  • Calderón-Argelich A., Anguelovski I., Connolly, J. J. T., Baró F. (2023). Greening plans as (re)presentation of the city: towards an inclusive and gender-sensitive approach to urban greenspaces (2023) Urban Forestry and Urban Greening https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2023.127984
  • Matheney A., Garcia-Lamarca M., Calderón-Argelich A., Alfandari N., Papillon D., Casa dels Futurs (2023). A space of possibilities: situated research with/from La Casa dels Futurs. Antipode. https://antipodeonline.org/2023/05/10/a-space-of-possibilities-un-espacio-de-posibilidades/
  • Calderón-Argelich, A., Benetti, S., Anguelovski, I., Connolly, J. J. T., Langemeyer, J., & Baró, F. (2021). Tracing and building up environmental justice considerations in the urban ecosystem service literature: A systematic review. Landscape and Urban Planning, 214, 104130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2021.104130
  • Baró, F., Calderón-Argelich, A., Langemeyer, J., Connolly, J. J. T. (2019). Under one canopy? Assessing the distributional environmental justice implications of street tree benefits in Barcelona. Environmental Science and Policy, 102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2019.08.016

Media Mentions

  • Featured in TV3 report “Barcelona vol diversificar els arbres i reduir el plàtan al 15% del total en cinc anys [Barcelona wants to diversify trees and reduce London plane at 15% of total in five years]” as scientific expert in ecosystem services and street trees in Barcelona. 29th May 2022
  • Research featured at El Periódico report by Catanzaro M. “Los 200.000 árboles de Barcelona retienen al año el agua de 15 piscinas [The 200,000 Barcelona tres retain the water of 15 swimming pools]”. 4th February 2020
  • Calderón Argelich, A., Winkelmann, A. (2021). “Rehabitar un planeta en crisi [Re-inhabiting a planet in crisis]”. Idees: Revista de Temes Contemporanis, 53. Monographic “Youth Act! Towards a new generational pact”