Doctoral Researcher in Urban Planning, Design, and Policy at the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies of the Polytechnic University of Milano
Alberto Bortolotti is a doctoral researcher in Urban Planning, Design, and Policy at the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies of the Polytechnic University of Milano. His research focuses on the interactions between spatial planning and real estate finance with implications in urban development, cohesion policy, and housing studies. He has been a visiting scholar at the Public Governance Institute of KU Leuven and the Department of Human Geography, Planning, and International Development of the University of Amsterdam. Before joining the academic environment, he worked as a junior architect, planner, policy advisor, and researcher, for both public and private institutions such as the Italian Ministry of Culture, the European Parliament, and the Feltrinelli Foundation. He is a social-democratic activist and Vice-President of the Young European Socialists (YES).
In recent years, European citizens have witnessed a rise in inequality, especially socio-economic, alongside an increase in vote share for radical right populist parties. By examining case studies from Italy, Hungary, and Spain (with the comparative case of Germany), this policy study argues that the rise of populism is not only linked to economic trends but also to other constitutional changes and institutional settings characterising European countries with a focus on economic inequality as the explanatory variable for political participation.
Political Mentor: Gaby Bischoff, MEP S&D
Academic Mentor: Eunice Goes, Professor of Politics at Richmond American University of London
Doctoral Researcher in Urban Planning, Design, and Policy at the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies of the Polytechnic University of Milano
Doctoral researcher in Economics at the Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE)
Research assistant at the Faculty of Law at the University of Zagreb
Joint PhD candidate at the University of Edinburgh and KU Leuven