PhD Student Banafsheh Aliabbasi

My doctoral research examines urban water resilience through the lens of Nature-Based Solutions, focusing on how ecological infrastructure is planned, governed, and implemented in cities. I draw on Urban Political Ecology to analyze the social, political, and economic dynamics shaping water management, with particular attention to equity, justice, and uneven vulnerability. My work adopts a comparative urban approach, with case studies in Calgary (Canada) and Tehran (Iran), to explore how different governance contexts influence resilience outcomes.

I am interested in the politics of urban environmental interventions, including how power, knowledge, and institutional arrangements shape sustainability and resilience agendas through situated knowledge. This includes critical engagement with planning frameworks, governance scales, and the distribution of benefits and burdens associated with climate adaptation and green infrastructure.

As Evaluation Lead at Sustainable Calgary, my applied research focuses on open street projects assessing the public-health, mobility, and social impacts of the connaught school open street. Using comparative and pre–post evaluation framework, I examine changes in traffic conditions, air quality, safety perceptions, physical activity, and everyday street use, with an emphasis on evidence-based evaluation to inform policy and practice.

Across my academic and applied projects, I use mixed methods including spatial analysis, surveys, focus groups, policy analysis, and comparative frameworks to study urban interventions in real-world contexts.