DPU PhD thesis awarded first prize in Latin America

Dr Ernesto López, assistant professor in the University of Chile and PhD in Urban Planning from the DPU was awarded first prize in the FONAVIP-REDALYC PhD Thesis Competition . This award focuses on postgraduate academic outputs on housing and urban issues in Latin America.

Dr. Lopez’s thesis, entitled “Urban Entrepreneurialism and Creative Destruction: A Case-study of the Urban Renewal Strategy in the Peri-centre of Santiago de Chile, 1990-2005”, was developed between 2005 and 2009 under the supervision of Dr Julio D Dávila. The jury praised the thesis as an ambitious piece of research, theoretically very strong, with clear research questions that guide the overall conceptual focus, with a deep and strong knowledge on the various processes shaping housing and urban change in Chile and on the wider economic processes shaping different parts of the city of Santiago in specific. The thesis articulates together a substantial amount of empirical analysis (both qualitative and quantitative) to address a complex but focused topic. The data is original and exciting and broad. The thesis draws on key theoretical concepts and applies these to excellent data to make a strong set of arguments and good conclusions. The DPU congratulates Dr López for this achievement.