Dr Simona Azzali ~ Senior Lecturer Urban Design

Simona Azzali is a lecturer and researcher in urban design at the Singapore campus of James Cook University where she coordinates the Master of Planning and Urban Design and teaches core, elective, and studio modules on disaster management, urban research methods, urban planning and sustainable urbanism. She is a member of JCU's Tropical Urbanism and Design Lab, an interdisciplinary team of geographers, architects, sociologists and planners interested in tropical urbanism, and JCU's Centre for International Trade and Business in Asia (CITBA). Prior to commencing her appointment at James Cook University, she worked and researched for various renowned academic institutions as the National University of Singapore, UCL London, Politecnico di Milano, and Qatar University.

Simona has published extensively and presented her work in international conferences in the field of urban studies and planning.  Her teaching experience covers four different universities in Milan, Doha, and Singapore where she has taught core modules, elective courses, and studios. She has also contributed to organizing several events, workshops, and initiatives on urban design and architecture topics. Simona's academic interests on issues in the fields of urban design and planning in tropical Asian cities; liveability and sustainability of public open spaces; Arab cities; urban regeneration and renewal processes; walkability and pedestrianization; spatial practices of migrant communities; environment-behaviour studies; mega sporting events and their impact on the built environment.

Simona actively supervises students in the Master of Planning and Urban Design and Doctor of Philosophy and is interested in receiving inquiries from prospective PhD and Masters by Research candidates with research experience and interests in urban planning and design in the Arab or tropical world. Scholarship funding is available through the James Cook University Postgraduate Research Scholarships.

Research Projects

• Special Issue (Sustainability) "Sustainable Tropical Urbanism: Building Tropical Cities of the Future"

• Measuring social and physical wellbeing of age-friendly residential buildings: the Silver Population Wellbeing Index

• Tropical Constrained Environments, Sustainable Adaptations: Businesses and Communities

• 1st Sustainable Tropical Urbanism Symposium: Tropical cities in a warming world

• World Cup 2022 and its impact on the city of Doha

• Urban Qualities and Emerging Knowledge Based Economies

• TUDLab projects

Teaching

• BX2195: Hospitality, Cultures and People (Level 2; SIN)
• EV5910: Professional Planning Project (Pt 1 of 2) (Level 5; SIN)
• EV5920: Professional Planning Project (Pt 2 of 2) (Level 5; SIN)
• SC1101: Science, Technology and Truth (Level 1; SIN)
• SC5008: Professional Placement (Level 5; SIN)
• SC5901: Special Topic 1 (Level 5; SIN)
• SC5902: Special Topic 2 (Level 5; SIN)

Interests

Research

• Urban planning and design of tropical cities
• Liveability and sustainability of public open spaces
• Urban regeneration and renewal processes
• Walkability and pedestrianization
• Environment Behaviour Studies
• Mega Sport Events and their impact on the built environment
• Spatial practices of migrant communities

Experience

• 2018 to present - Lecturer, Urban Design, James Cook University (Singapore)
• 2018 to present - Programme Coordinator, Master of Planning and Urban Design, James Cook University (Singapore)
• 2017 to 2018 - Researcher, Urban Design, National University of Singapore (Singapore)
• 2015 - Visiting PhD Scholar, Urban Planning, UCL (London)

Research Disciplines

• Urban and regional planning (3304)
• Policy and administration (4407)

Awards

• 2020 - Early Career Researcher Award (JCU Singapore)
• 2013 to 2017 - GSRA (Graduate Student Research Award), funded by QNRF (Qatar National Research Fund)
• 2016 - Best Poster Award, Qatar University Annual Conference (Social Sciences and Humanities - Post Doc & Graduate Students)

Fellowships

• 2015 - Recipient of UCL FES (University College London) - QU (Qatar University) Doctoral Training Programme

Memberships

• 2020 - International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP)
• 2019 - Singapore Institute of Planners (SIP)
• 2017 to 2020 - Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI)
• 2017 to 2018 - Global Urban Studies Cluster (GUS) – Faculty of Art and Social Sciences – NUS

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Law L, Azzali S and Conejos S (2021) Planning for the temporary: temporary urbanism and public space in a time of COVID-19. Town Planning Review, 92 (1), pp. 65-74, DOI:10.3828/tpr.2020.48.
• Thirumaran K, Mohammadi Z, Pourabedin Z, Azzali S and Sim K (2021) COVID-19 in Singapore and New Zealand: newspaper portrayal, crisis management. Tourism Management Perspectives, 38, Article: 108849, DOI:10.1016/j.tmp.2021.100812.
• Azzali S (2020) Challenges and key factors in planning legacies of mega sporting events: lessons learned from London, Sochi, and Rio de Janeiro. Archnet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research, 14 (2), pp. 203-218, DOI:10.1108/ARCH-04-2019-0093.
• Wood J, Paturi S, Puri P, Jakobsen E, Shankar S, Zejden P and Azzali S (2020) Plastic marine waste and its potential for Indonesian indigenous communities. Etropic: electronic journal of studies in the tropics, 19 (1), pp. 167-184, DOI:10.25120/etropic.19.1.2020.3697.
• Azzali S (2019) Mega sporting events and their impact on the built environment: lessons learned from the past. A|Z ITU Journal of the Faculty of Architecture, 16 (2), pp. 25-37, DOI:10.5505/itujfa.2019.12499.
• Azzali S (2019) Mega sporting events as tools of urban redevelopment: lessons learned from Rio de Janeiro. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE): Urban Design and Planning, 172 (3), pp. 81-89, DOI:10.1680/jurdp.18.00009.
• Azzali S and Abdel Sabour E (2018) A framework for improving sustainable mobility in higher education campuses: the case study of Qatar University. Case Studies on Transport Policy, 6 (4), pp. 603-612, DOI:10.1016/j.cstp.2018.07.010.
• Azzali S and Tomba M (2018) Urban development and planning practice in Doha. Middle East Journal, 180.
• Azzali S and Abdel Sabour E (2018) The way-finding in educational modular buildings: the case of the male engineering building at Qatar university. Advances in Civil Engineering, 2018 (6076021), DOI:10.1155/2018/6076021.
• Salama A, Azzali S and Wiedmann F (2018) The everyday urban environment of migrant labourers in Gulf cities: The case of the old centre of Doha, Qatar. City, Territory and Architecture, 4 (5), DOI:10.1186/s40410-017-0061-5.

Book Chapters

• Azzali S, He Q, Shen T, Li X and Jiang Q (2021) Ecotourism industry in constrained environments: Bhutan as a case study. In: Tropical Constrained Environments and Sustainable Adaptations. Managing the Asian Century. Springer Nature, Singapore, pp. 95-114
• Azzali S, Kamble Z, Thirumaran K, Wong C and Wood J (2020) Mitigating impact from natural disasters, building resilience in tourism: the case of Kerala. In: Economic Effects of Natural Disasters: theoretical foundations, methods, and tools. Elsevier, London, UK, pp. 119-129

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ResearchOnline@JCU stores 49+ research outputs authored by Dr Simona Azzali from 2005 onwards.

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
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