beatriz palmeira

An urban planner, researcher, and storyteller of the spaces that often go unseen. I'm currently a PhD candidate in Urban Development at the Federal University of Pernambuco, with international experiences at Harvard University and Ball State University, focusing on urban sociology and spatial justice. 

My research centers on how women in peripheral territories experience and transform the city, through movement, memory, and everyday resistance. Blending academic depth with visual thinking and narrative sensitivity, I use maps, texts, and images to uncover the politics of space and the poetics of place.

Through research, I make an efford to listen to silenced voices. Through planning, I try to reimagine futures from the ground up. I write, draw, and dream cities that resist, care, and remember.

PHD RESEARCHER

Federal University of Pernambuco

Recife, PE Brazil

04/2021 - Current

RESEARCH ASSISTANT

Space and Politics Laboratory

Recife, PE, Brazil

02/2022 - Current

RESEARCH ASSISTANT

Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard 

Cambridge, MA, US 

11/2023 - 04/2024

RESEARCH ASSISTANT

Núcleo de Eficiência em Tecnologia Social

Recife, PE, Brazil

02/2023 - 12/2023

MASTER'S RESEARCHER

Federal University of Alagoas

Maceió, AL, Brazil

04/2018 - 05/2020

Nearly a decade ago, I discovered a deep curiosity - and growing passion! - for cities and their complex dynamics. Since then, I’ve explored how cities function, evolve, and impact those who inhabit them. This journey took a defining turn during my master’s studies, when I encountered feminist urban theory and the powerful work of scholars who exposed how urban experiences are deeply shaped by intersecting social markers such as gender, race, and class. These frameworks revealed to me a critical gap: mainstream urban planning often overlooks the differentiated ways people experience the city.  

This perspective has shaped my work moving forward, which has focused on understanding how systems of privilege and oppression are embedded in urban structures, and how planning can be reimagined through inclusive, intersectional lenses. I am particularly interested in how women from peripheral areas engage with urban space and in the potential of informal practices to inform more just, responsive urban policies.

frames. passions. perspectives

Travels. Photography. Cities. Living urban spaces. Beauty. Perspectives. Sunsets. History. Moments. Nature. Creativity. Art. Complexity. Layers. Culture. And much more!

Throughout my academic and professional journey, I’ve consistently sought out diverse experiences driven by curiosity and a desire to engage with the world in multiple ways. What may appear as a collection of unrelated experiences is, in fact, a mosaic of my interests, values, and personal evolution. 

These experiences reflect my belief that complex challenges require multidisciplinary thinking, and that creativity often emerges at the intersections. Each activity included here, however different in form or context, contributes to the broader narrative of who I am and what I care about.

• 2nd place in the Inclusive and Sustainable Urban Innovation Ideas Competition in Maceió, Brazil, 2019.
• Winner of the ATHIS Health Unit National Public Contest, held by the Council of Architecture and Urbanism (CAU/RS) and the Institute of Architects of Brazil (IAB RS), 2020.

• 2021-2025, Capes Doctoral Thesis Research Fellowship.
• 2023-2024, Brazilian Federal Government Doctoral Program Abroad Fellowship.
• 2023-2024, Harvard's Lemann Brazil Research Fund.
• 2023, Grant for the promotion of Teaching, Research, and Extension from the Paraíba Technological Park Foundation - PaqTcPB.
• 2018-2020, Capes Master Dissertation Research Fellowship.
• 2013-2015, Brazilian Federal Government Science without Borders Program Scholarship.

ADDITIONAL TRAINING

• Urban rehabilitation with a focus on central areas, 2015. 
• Creative relearning, 2020.
• "Self-management and social movement: the role of women in popular struggles for the right to housing", 2021.
• Democracy and authoritarianism in Brazil, 2023.

EVENTS

• XI Week of Architecture and Urbanism [listener], 2015.
• Ocupe FAU [speaker], 2015.
• 4th International Congress of Architecture and Landscape Design [paper presentation], 2016.
• UN Day in Alagoas: Dialogue on Urban Development [listener], 2018.
• Technical Assistance Seminar in Social Interest Housing: challenges and strategies for access to adequate housing in Alagoas [listener], 2018.
• 1st Meeting of Urban Thinkers in Alagoas: Right to the City [listener], 2019.
• Maceió Thought by Women[listener], 2019.
• 14th Week of Architecture and Urbanism [listener], 2019.
• 1st FAU Research Exhibition [listener], 2019.
• Online Workshop “Advanced maps with google earth pro”, [listener], 2020.
• Rethinking cities in crisis from the perspective of female leadership [listener], 2020.
• Listening to communities in times of pandemic: occupations, grottos and popular neighborhoods in Maceió [listener], 2020.

• VI National Meeting of the National Association of Research and Postgraduate Studies in Architecture and  Urbanism [publication], 2021.
• I International Colloquium on Society, Space and Politics [paper presentation], 2021
• XV International Seminar on Urbanism [Caus.a publication], 2023
• 35th AESOP Annual Congress [paper presentation], 2023
• II International Colloquium on Society, Space and Politics [Caus.a publication], 2023.
• The art and science of engaging across disagreement, [listener], 2024
• Call to action! Addressing urban vulnerable territories in Latin America and the Caribbean, [listener], 2024.
• Trauma, (In)Justice, and action: A conversation with Community Learders  [listener], 2024.
  
• Anti-system sentiments and urban politics
  [listener], 2024.
• Brazilian Meeting on Urbanism in Central Areas [listener], 2024.

Each has a way of expressing themselves, almost like a song to the world. Some use their voice, others use words. Some use colors, and others use movement. Still others capture moments and freeze them in photographs. That’s why I love it so much. They are memories meant to be remembered forever. They give voice to what (theoretically) has none, and in doing so, they sing one of the most beautiful songs, in my opinion. Good pictures scream. They delight.

This is just the whisper of a timid voice that loves the simple things in the world. One that decided to stop hiding and show how she sees what surrounds her.

Anyway, here is a little piece of me. I hope some can listen to what, for now, only I can hear.