Ana Paula Pimentel Walker

University of Michigan | Ann Arbor, United States

Ana Paula is an assistant professor in urban planning at the University of Michigan. She investigates how disenfranchised communities engage with urban governance and evaluates the significance of participatory institutions in planning socially and environmentally just cities.

Her research aims to amplify the voices of informal dwellers, migrants and ethnic minorities in the planning process, while co-producing strategies that defy inequalities and institutional racism. To achieve these goals, the action-oriented component of her research focuses on advancing community organizing, capacity building and access to justice.

Ana Paula teaches courses in participatory planning, law, service-learning studios, housing policy and environmental planning. She has a Ph.D. in anthropology, master’s degrees in urban planning and Latin American studies, and a law degree.