Dr. M. (Mina) Akhavan
Dr. M. (Mina) Akhavan
Profile
In 2022, I was awarded the Horizon Europe - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action and am currently working on my project RePortFlows | Port(Re)Connecting Maritime Ecosystems: Geospatial Mapping of the ‘Spaces of Flows’ in Port-City Regions at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Chair of History and Complexity, TU Delft.
Imagining ports and cities as complex networks, this 2-year project will consider how globalisation, migration, digitalisation and the Covid-19 pandemic impact planning and transport in Rotterdam and Genoa. The end goal is to propose tailored policy tools that can increase sustainability and better integrate transport and socio-economic potential with spatial and social realities.
Prior to this position, I was an Adjunct Professor and Postdoc Researcher at the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU), Politecnico di Milano (PoliMi).
Since 2015, I have been working with several international and multidisciplinary teams on different projects:
2020 - today | Member of the Leiden Delft Erasmus PortCityFutures programme - coordinated by Carola Hein.
2019-2022 | Member of the European COST Action Management Committee (MC) for Italy and the Working Group Leader (WG2) in the project: CA18214 - The Geography of New Working Spaces and the Impact on the Periphery
This Action created a network of more than 30 countries and 100 researchers. I was involved in this CA from the beginning (Grant preparation and implementation) and coordinate the WG2 for over 3 years. I co-organized several (MC and group) meetings and collaborated in preparing the deliverables (reports, working papers, journal publications and edited volumes - see my latest edited volume here: https://link.springer.com/book/9783031260193
2018-2020 | Postdoc researcher for the 2-year project MOBILAGE | Mobility and Aging: Daily Life and Welfare Supportive Networks at the Neighbourhood Level.
The project was funded by Fondazione Cariplo- Partners: PoliMi-DAStU + the University of Groningen + University of Federico II, Naples.
2020 - 2022 | Postdoc researcher for the 2-year project HAPPY | Health, Accessibility, Public Transport Policies for Elderly
The project was funded by Fondazione Cariplo - Partners: University of Insubria + PoliMi-DAStU + University of Padova.
2016-2018 | Research assistant for two FARB projects financed by PoliMi - DAStU:
- New Working Spaces. Promises of Innovations, Effects on the Economic and Urban Context. Coordinators: Corinna Morandi and Ilaria Mariotti
- New Methods for Studying Transnational Urbanism and Architecture. Coordinator Davide Ponzini
I have disseminated my research activities through various channels, from scientific publications to presentations at conferences, seminars, webinars and podcasts.
Since 2012, I have presented my research work at more than 20 international and national conferences, such as AESOP, EURA, ERSA, RSA, AISRE, SIU, INU, etc.
I have published in important peer-reviewed journals in urban studies (such as Cities, European Planning Studies, and Journal of Transport Geography); I have been invited to write and co-author several book chapters. I have one monograph Port Infrastructure Developments and Port-City Interface Dynamics and have co-edited two volumes.
Publications
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2024
Navigating Equality
Empowering Women in the Maritime Industry of Northern Europe
Mina Akhavan -
2023
Beyond Dubai
The story of the Making of a Global Port Operator from the Middle East
M. Akhavan / Eleftheria Exarchou -
2023
Concluding Remarks
European Narratives About the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Coworking
Marco Hölzel / Mina Akhavan / Divya Leducq -
2023
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2023
Introduction to the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Coworking
Mina Akhavan / Marco Hölzel / Divya Leducq
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Prizes
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2022
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) | Postdoctoral Fellowship
The 2-year project: (Re)Connecting Maritime Ecosystems: Geospatial Mapping of the ‘Spaces of Flows’ in Port-City Regions (RePortflows)
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2021
The Italian National Scientific Qualification for Associate Professor in Urban Planning (Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale – ASN sector 08/F1)
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2020-9
Winner of the Best Poster Award 2020 at the Annual Conference of AISRe, the Italian Section of the Regional Science Association
Title: The Geography of Older Adults’ Accessibility to Health Services in Italy
AISRe WEB Conference -
2016
Winner of the Best Paper Prize for Young Researchers 2016, The International Journal of Transport Economics, Genoa, Italy
For the paper: Akhavan M. (2017). Evolution of Hub Port-Cities into Global Logistics Centres: Lessons from the two cases of Dubai and Singapore, International Journal of Transport Economics, vol. XLIV, No.1, 25-47.