Raquel Rolnik
(Brazil)
Raquel Rolnik is a professor, architect, and urban planner with over 35 years of scholarship, activism, and practical experience in planning, urban land policy, and housing issues. Based in São Paulo, she is a professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of São Paulo.
Throughout her career, she has held several government positions, including Director of the Planning Department of the City of São Paulo (1989–1992) and National Secretary for Urban Programs at the Brazilian Ministry of Cities (2003–2007), as well as roles in civil society, including Urban Policy Coordinator at the Polis Institute (1997–2002). From May 2008, she was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council as UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing for a six-year mandate, ending in June 2014.
She is the author of several books, including Urban Warfare: Housing and Cities in the Age of Finance (Verso, UK) and A cidade e a lei, among others.
