Research Contractor
Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning (DIST)
Profile
Keywords
Biography
My work explores the interchange between transnational global forces and local heritage contexts. I investigate how the mobility of policies, design solutions and traveling networks interact with local communities and contexts as part of social, cultural and economic transformations. My research and teaching activities span the fields of urban planning, cultural heritage, architectural and urban design, urban policy, event management, cultural policy, leisure and tourism studies, urban theory and sociology. I am currently the Principal Investigator of the GRUHPP Project (Green Restitution for Urban Heritage Planning and Protection) funded by the Italian FIS3 Starting Grant Scheme that explores the potential role of Green and Blue Infrastructure as well as Nature-based Solutions in historic urban environments. I have been involved in several national and international research projects as well as carried out periods as a Visiting Researcher in Croatia, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and China. I have been an Adjunct Professor instructing urban planning and studies courses for six different international institutions and am also an Executive Editor for the Scopus-indexed journal Built Heritage.
Scientific branch
(Area 0008 - Civil engineering and architecture)
Research topics
- FIS3 Starting Grant - Green Restitution for Urban Heritage Planning and Protection (GRUHPP) The GRUHPP Project repositions Green and Blue Infrastructure (GBI) and Nature-based Solutions (NBS) in heritage spaces by confronting the existing dilemmas and conflicts through fundamental, interdisciplinary and multiscalar research. The approach aims to recognize and reclaim the lost green history of heritage cities, define the heritage specific risks and opportunities of GBI and NBS, develop the new theoretical concept of Green Restitution as well as establish clear policy guidelines to inform future research and planning activities. The work spans the fields of urban planning, heritage and environmental studies to challenge longstanding development and conservation paradigms that have overlooked the critical role that green areas and natural environments play in the long-term sustainability and resilience of heritage.
Skills
ERC sectors
SDG
Editorial boards
- BUILT HERITAGE (2023-), Associate Editor of magazine or editorial series
Teaching
Collegi of the degree programmes
- Collegio di Pianificazione e Progettazione. Componente
Teachings
Master of Science
- Planning for Heritage (Studio) (modulo di Heritage-based Planning). A.A. 2026/27, PIANIFICAZIONE URBANISTICA E TERRITORIALE. Titolare del corso
Research
Supervised PhD students
- Xinwen Zhang. Programme in Architettura. Storia E Progetto (39th cycle, 2023-in progress)
Publications
Last years publications View all publications in Porto@Iris
- Jones, Zachary M. (2026)
Exploring the transnational-heritage assemblage: the Ara Pacis Museum and the historic city centre of Rome. In: EUROPEAN PLANNING STUDIES, pp. 1-26. ISSN 0965-4313
Contributo su Rivista - Jreij, Abdallah; Jones, Zachary M.; Ponzini, Davide; Di Vita, Stefano (2026)
Spatial Planning and Sustainability in the Application of the Olympic Agenda 2020. In: TRANSACTIONS OF THE ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN SCHOOLS OF PLANNING, vol. 10, pp. 51-64. ISSN 2566-2147
Contributo su Rivista - Du, Xiaoxuan; Jones, Zachary M.; Ponzini, Davide; Lu, Shiliang (2026)
Beijing 2008–2022: fast-evolving policy, planning, and architectural approaches to the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. In: PLANNING PERSPECTIVES, pp. 1-23. ISSN 0266-5433
Contributo su Rivista - Mahmoud, Israa; Jones, Zachary M.; Jreij, Abdallah; Ayik, Necdet (2026)
Genova Behind the Scenes: A Didactic Approach for Including Urban Nature in Placemaking-Heritage Driven Strategies. In: Designing Nature into Cities / Cheshmehzangi A., Alidoust S., Chen W.Y., Fuller R., S.L., Springer, pp. 75-86. ISBN: 978-981-95-9382-8
Contributo in Volume - Ripp, M.; Gustafsson, C.; Jones, Z. M.; Majumdar, S.; Ginzarly, M. (2025)
Historic Urban Landscapes and Heritage Systems as the Basis for Sustainable Urban Development. In: LAND, vol. 14, pp. 1-22. ISSN 2073-445X
Contributo su Rivista - Ponzini, D.; Jones, Z. M.; Scrivano, P. (2025)
Progetti urbani transnazionali e il loro assemblaggio locale: un'esplorazione bibliografica. In: NUOVE ECOLOGIE TERRITORIALI: coabitare mondi che cambiano, Napoli, 12/06/2024 - 14/06/2024, pp. 203-207. ISBN: 978-88-99237-72-1
Contributo in Atti di Convegno (Proceeding) - Ponzini, D.; Jones, Z. M.; Martinelli, A. (2025)
Progetti transnazionali in città UNESCO: mappatura, analisi e questioni nelle città italiane. In: NUOVE ECOLOGIE TERRITORIALI: coabitare mondi che cambiano, Napoli, 12/06/2024 - 14/06/2024, pp. 196-202. ISBN: 978-88-99237-72-1
Contributo in Atti di Convegno (Proceeding) - Ponzini, Davide; Jones, Zachary; Tommarchi, Enrico; D'Armento, Stefano; Scandiffio, ... (2024)
Urban heritage fragility and antifragility: Matera and the 2019 European Capital of Culture. In: Fragility and Antifragility in Cities and Regions: Space, Uncertainty and Inequality / Curci F., Chiffi D., Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, pp. 198-212. ISBN: 9781035312559
Contributo in Volume - Jones, Zachary Mark (2024)
Revisiting the spatial relationships between mega-events and host cities. In: Events and Infrastructures: Critical Interrogations / Grabher B., Lamond I.R., Abingdon, Routledge, pp. 13-25. ISBN: 9781032438696
Contributo in Volume - Ponzini, Davide; Jones, Zachary M.; Abdallah, Jreij; Di Vita, Stefano (2024)
Milan Cultural Mega-events. Da Expo 2015 attraverso le Olimpiadi invernali 2026. -- Milan Cultural Mega-events. From the 2015 Expo through the 2026 Winter Olympics. [Ediz. bilingue italiano e inglese]. Siracusa, LetteraVentidue Edizioni srl, P. 300. ISBN: 9788862429146
Libro - Jones, Zachary M.; Zhang, Xinwen (2024)
Identifying the role of industrial heritage in the European Capital of Culture programme. In: BUILT HERITAGE, vol. 8. ISSN 2662-6802
Contributo su Rivista - Jones, Zachary M. (2023)
Large-scale urban regeneration threatening historic urban landscapes. The Liverpool Waters development and the loss of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In: TAFTER JOURNAL, vol. 121, pp. 1-8. ISSN 1974-563X
Contributo su Rivista - Jones, Zachary M.; Loddo, Marzia (2023)
Buildings and Architecture: Typologies That Defy Definition. In: Visiting the Art Museum / S.N., Cham, Springer International Publishing, pp. 47-66. ISBN: 978-3-031-12088-6
Contributo in Volume - Jones, Z. M.; Pappas, T. (2023)
Developing an identities-based approach to support more robust resilience and recovery in heritage planning and management. In: BUILT HERITAGE, vol. 7, pp. 1-12. ISSN 2662-6802
Contributo su Rivista - Davide, Ponzini; Jones, Zachary M. (2023)
Investigating the relationships between cultural heritage and mega-events across heritage-rich cities in Europe. In: Cultural Policy Yearbook 2020-2021. Culture in the Cities: Present and Future / S.N., Istanbul, İletişim Publishing, pp. 54-66. ISBN: 978-975-05-3451-5
Contributo in Volume - Tricarico, Luca; Jones, Zachary Mark; Daldanise, Gaia (2022)
Platform Spaces: When culture and the arts intersect territorial development and social innovation, a view from the Italian context. In: JOURNAL OF URBAN AFFAIRS, vol. 44, pp. 545-566. ISSN 0735-2166
Contributo su Rivista - Jones, Zachary Mark; Vigotti, Francesca (2022)
Emerging links between Alpine landscape heritage and mega-events in the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. In: ARQUITECTURA Y PAISAJE: TRANSFERENCIAS HISTÓRICAS, RETOS CONTEMPORÁNEOS - III Congreso Internacional «Cultura y Ciudad», Granada, 26/01/2022 - 28/01/2022, pp. 755-763. ISBN: 978-84-19008-07-7
Contributo in Atti di Convegno (Proceeding) - Jones, Zachary M. (2022)
Re-thinking the Resilience Paradigm in Cultural Heritage. In: New Metropolitan Perspectives. Post COVID Dynamics: Green and Digital Transition, between Metropolitan and Return to Villages Perspectives / Calabrò F., Della Spina L., Piñeira Mantiñán M.J., Cham, Springer International Publishing, pp. 2526-2534. ISBN: 978-3-031-06824-9
Contributo in Volume - Jones, Zachary M. (2022)
Going Beyond Tourism Attraction in the Festivalisation of World Heritage Cities. In: 50 Years World Heritage Convention: Shared Responsibility – Conflict & Reconciliation / Albert M.T., Bernecker R., Cave C., Prodan A.C., Ripp M., Cham, Springer International Publishing, pp. 113-124. ISBN: 978-3-031-05659-8
Contributo in Volume - Jones, Zachary M. (2022)
Short-term gains and long-term challenges to learning from mega-event planning in the city of Genoa. In: EUROPEAN PLANNING STUDIES, vol. 30, pp. 437-456. ISSN 1469-5944
Contributo su Rivista - Jones, Z. M.; Di Vita, S.; Ponzini, D. (2022)
Changing mega-events’ spatial strategies and cultural policy: scaling down, spacing out, and assembling organizations in the cases of London and Milan. In: CITY, TERRITORY AND ARCHITECTURE, vol. 9, pp. 1-11. ISSN 2195-2701
Contributo su Rivista