Rafaella Simas Lima

Rafaella joined the Department of Urban Studies and Planning in August 2023 as a Postdoctoral Research Associate on the project 'Empty Homes: The Impact on Blue-Green Towns'. The project is investigating the scale and impact of empty and second homes ('low-use properties') in rural and coastal areas of the UK.

Prior to this, Rafaella completed her PhD in Geography at the University of Sheffield. Her ESRC-funded research explored the role of transnational institutional investors in the production of housing in Lisbon. She has also contributed to research on Gulf investment in UK Cities as part of the Urban Institute's Centripetal Cities project.

Rafaella holds an MSc in Urban Development Planning from the Development Planning Unit, UCL, where she worked for two years as a teaching and research assistant.