Professor Dr. Luisa Sotomayor

Biography

Luisa Sotomayor is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography & Planning at the University of Toronto. Her research critically examines the politics of urban planning and housing in the context of intensifying global urban inequalities and contested state intervention. Her work focuses on socio-spatial inequalities, specifically looking at access to housing resources, urban violence, insecurity, homelessness, and uneven infrastructure provision in cities. Sotomayor's geographical focus is primarily on urban areas in Canada and Latin America, with significant field-based research in Colombian and Mexican cities. She has been the Principal Investigator of the SSHRC-funded project 'Vertical Peripheries: Planning Citizenship in Colombia’s Commodified Periurban Housing Towers,' investigating the effects of Colombia’s national privatized social housing policy. Through her research, she aims to understand how large-scale, market-driven housing provision affects residents' lives and urban planning practices. Sotomayor utilizes critical planning theory, human geography, and urban political analysis to explore participatory mechanisms, legal strategies, and activism related to urban belonging and rights.

Research Interests

Experience