Skip to main content

Staff Profile

Dr Natalia Villamizar Duarte

Lectureship in Urban Design, Degree Programme Director MA Urban Design and Master in Architecture and Urban Planning (Urban Design pathway)

  • Email: natalia.villamizar-duarte@ncl.ac.uk
  • Telephone: 0191 208 6006
  • Address: School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape
    Newcastle University, Henry Daysh Building, Room 7.20
    Newcastle upon Tyne
    NE1 7RU, UK
Background

I am an urban planner and designer interested in people’s experiences of their cities, particularly in the policies that shape those experiences. I have over 20 years of experience in urban design, urban planning, and policymaking in both academic and professional settings. My research explores how social practices, urban planning and design, and policymaking intersect to shape—and often perpetuate—spatial and social inequities. Grounded in the ethics of collaboration, my work prioritises building equitable partnerships through engaged scholarship and co-creation with a focus on community-led spatial practices, urban mobility, and public space.


Qualifications

  • PhD in Urban Planning and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago (2019) Negotiating Ideology and Regulation: planning and governing public space in Bogota 1988-2018
  • MSc. in Development and Planning: Building and Urban Design in Development at University College London (2007)
  • Specialisation Degree in Urban Design at Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá (2004)
  • Graduate degree in Architecture at Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá (2001)


Affiliations

International Network for Transport and Accessibility in Low-Income Communities – Latin American chapter INTALInC LAC

Newcastle University Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies CLAC

RC21 – Research Committee on Urban and Regional Development of the International Sociological Association


Languages

Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian (basic) 


Student Drop-in Hour

Friday from 11:00 to 12:00 (during term time) in my office. Please email me for a meeting online and/or at another time

Teaching

My teaching approach builds on critical pedagogy, blending theory and practice to encourage students to reflect on the ways power and knowledge intersect in policymaking, urban design, and planning. I strive to challenge students to think critically about their role in building just and sustainable urban communities while using creative approaches to make cities more inclusive and equitable.

 

  • ARC8115 Design Studio [MA Urban Design] | Module Lead & Design Tutor
  • APL3008 Green Infrastructure for Well-being & Biodiversity [BA Architecture & Urban Planning] | Module Lead & Design Tutor
  • TCP8025 Linked Research Project | Social Infrastructures in the North East (in collaboration with Dr Diego Garcia-Mejuto)
  • ARC8117 Design Thesis [MA Urban Design] | Tutor


Contributor:

  • ARC8069 Housing Alternatives [MA Urban Design] | Module Co-led & Reviewer
  • TCP8920 Globalisation and Social Justice Project [MSc Urban Planning] | Lecture on Transport & Accessibility 
  • TCP8921 Globalisation and Social Justice [MSc Urban Plannning] | Lecture on Transport & Accessibility 


Research

My research explores how social practices, urban planning and design, and policymaking intersect to shape—and often perpetuate—spatial and social inequities. Grounded in the ethics of collaboration, my work prioritises building equitable partnerships through engaged scholarship and co-creation with a focus on community-led spatial practices, urban mobility, and public space.


Current funded projects

Co-Investigator, On the way to and from school (OWS): active mobility interventions for the promotion of physical activity and mental well-being in adolescents in Bogotá, Colombia and Maputo, Mozambique, Funded by MRC and GACD, https://www.onthewaytoschoolproject.org


Co-Investigator, Mobility with Equity: Gender, Climate Vulnerability, and the BRT Amazonas in Belo Horizonte, Funded by the Gender and Environment Data Alliance (GEDA) Small Grants program for 2025-26


Co-Investigator, A mobilidade espacial da população idosa brasileira e colombiana: desafios e oportunidades desiguais. Funded by CNPq, Brazil


Recent funded projects

Co-investigator, Pedagogies of Territorial Reparation: Co-producing 'Neighbourhoods of Peace' in Medellin's Territorial Planning, funded by UCL Global Engagement Funds (GEF).


Co-Investigator, ‘Archivo Vivo [Living archive]: weaving gendered (hi)stories of urban reclamation in Moravia’, funded by Imagining Futures through Un/Archived Pasts. Phase 2 Commission Projects. More information: https://archivovivomoravia.org/

 

Principal Investigator, ‘Usage and perception of e-scooters in Newcastle’, funded by The Global Urban Research Unit, School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, Newcastle University 


Co-Investigator, ‘Counter mapping diaspora and queer communities’ living heritage in Sheffield’, funded by The Centre for Critical Heritage Studies Small Grant Scheme. More information: https://sheffieldotherwise.wordpress.com  


Publications