Mariana Marmelada
PhD Researcher at University of Strathclyde | UK
Mariana Marmelada’s work focuses on how cities can build the capabilities, coalitions, and context-fit strategies needed to convert ambitions for affordability into durable, equitable outcomes.
As a doctoral researcher at the University of Strathclyde, Scotland, she is exploring how governance systems, institutional capacity and multi-actor dynamics shape a city’s ability to deliver long-term affordable housing. She investigates why cities struggle to turn effective models into a real, scalable supply, bridging structural analysis (land and market dynamics, spatial and planning constraints) with governance realities such as fragmented mandates, capability limits, and fragile partnerships, revealing the structural barriers that persist across urban contexts.
But to help cities make this knowledge more applicable, Mariana is developing a game that makes complex governance and delivery dynamics visible and tangible, helping practitioners identify bottlenecks, test alternative pathways, and strengthen shared understanding. She believes tools like these game-based methods can make system change clearer, more accessible, and actionable, enabling institutions to deliver stability, fairness, and long-term access to decent housing as the basis of dignity and opportunity