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Marina Moscoso Arabía

Profile picture for Marina Moscoso Arabía

Contact Information

Natural History Building

Office Hours

Spring 2022: By appointment
Advisor: Dr. Nikolai Alvarado

Biography

Marina has a strong academic background in Social Sciences and Urban Studies. She has studied and/or conducted research in San Juan (Puerto Rico), Barcelona (Catalonia) and Buenos Aires (Argentina). She has developed an extensive on-the-ground work and research on the problem of abandoned properties in Puerto Rico. She is the co-founder of Casa Taft 169 (2013), a grassroots initiative pursuing the "off' grid" rehabilitation of a long standing "public nuisance", and "Centro para la Reconstrucción del Habitat (2017), a nonprofit dedicated to support public, private and community efforts to abate blight. 

Research Interests

Urban history and geographies, land-use policies, displacing forces, housing, gender, decolonial studies, collaborative and interdisciplinary research.

 

Research Description

Informal urbanization, urban squatting, alternative forms of tenure, politics of space, urban ecology, degrowth, impacts of massive school closings in Puerto Rico, gentrification, touristification, climate change, and adaptation in the Caribbean Archipelago. 

 

Education

BS in Anthropology, University of Puerto Rico; Master in Urban Planning, University of Puerto Rico; Master in Urban Design, University of Barcelona.

 

Grants

Ford Foundation - Just Cities and Regions, 2019 

ArtPlace America National Creative Placemaking Fund, 2016

 

Awards and Honors

Rafael and Celestina Cordero - 45 Builders of Hope, Community Foundation of Puerto Rico, 2021

Courses Taught

Graduate Teaching Assistance (Fall 2021) - UP510-Plan Making Puerto Rico

 

Highlighted Publications

Rubiano, D., Moore, E., Gallardo, L., and Moscoso, M., Puerto Rico's Public School Closures; Community Effects & Future Paths. Berkeley, CA; Othering & Belonging Institute, (2020)