Nordregio is an international research institute established by the Nordic Council of Ministers

Research Fellow

Sandra Oliveira e Costa

Home Staff Sandra Oliveira e Costa

Sandra is no longer employed at Nordregio. For more information please get in touch with us at info(@)nordregio.org

Sandra is a human geographer with a wide interest in sustainable urban development. She has a special interest in how policy on green transition and integration impact our chances to create equal opportunities in cities. A cross-cutting perspective recurrent in Sandras’ work, concern how participatory planning practices impact the life of people and the urban development.

Besides her work at Nordregio, Sandra is the co-chief editor of the popular Swedish planning journal PLAN.

Academic qualifications
MSc in Human Geography, Stockholm University (2012)
BA in Geography, Stockholm University (2010)

Languages
Swedish
Portuguese
Spanish
English

Prior positions
Urban Planner at the Strategic Department of the City Planning Authority in Gothenburg (2013-2015)

Private firm for consultancy on citizen dialogue within urban planning (2012-2013)

Publications
Oliveira e Costa, S. (2016) Dealing with segregated cities and identity crisis in Tuna Tasan-Kok, Luca Bertolini, Sandra Oliveira e Costa, Hila Lothan, Higor Carvalho, Maarten Desmet, Seppe De Blust, Tim Devos, Deniz Kimyon, J. A. Zoete, and Peter Ahmad (2016) “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”: giving voice to planning practitioners Planning Theory & Practice Vol. 17, Iss. 4, 2016

Lindholm, T., Oliveira e Costa, S., Wiberg, S. (Eds.) (2015) Medborgardialog – demokrati eller dekoration? Tolv röster om dialogens problem och potential i samhällsplaneringen Arkus#72

Oliveira e Costa, S. (2015) Slaget om staden – om urbana rättviserörelser och inbjudet deltagande. In Lindholm, T., Oliveira e Costa, S., Wiberg, S. (Eds.) (2015) Medborgardialog – demokrati eller dekoration? Tolv röster om dialogens problem och potential i samhällsplaneringen Arkus#72

Oliveira e Costa, S. (2013) Danmarks uppgörelse med parallellsamhället i ghettot. In MANA (2013:2-3)

Spatial Story

Floating in between

I think the first time I consciously, or theoretically, thought about ‘place’ was as a young teenager at 10 000 meters above the earth’s surface.

I was doing one of multiple travels between Sweden and Portugal. This time leaving Sweden for a long awaited vacation in the country that awaked feelings in me that did not pass me through in Sweden.

Turning over the pages in an airplane magazine, I rested my eyes on a chronicle. The author – I cannot remember the topic of the article and for nothing on earth the author’s name – told me that a place is not a fixed point in physical space, but is something that becomes according to the time that passes by and to the people who happen to inhabit it, at a specific point in time. Watching the surface of earth passing by beneath me, floating somewhere in heaven between the two places on earth that kept building my identity, this seemed nothing less than logic, I guess. So, ‘place’ was not something fixed and always the same, but something that was changeable and filled with meaning by people.

Even though many years passed since then, I still remember how that message of the chronicle appealed to me and I get amazed over the impression it made, keeping it in the back of my bone since. Later, many paths brought me to where I am today in terms of what I am dedicating my working life to. I study social aspects of the becoming of places; and what have always had a prominent role in my areas of interest, is the changeability of both places and identity due to migration.

Related Research Projects
Finished
How does place impact the possibility to follow restrictions during corona times? (PORECO) ESPON DIGIPLAN The Sustainable Hub to Engage in Rural Policies with Actors (SHERPA) Nordic Sustainable Cities – Export Efforts Long-term planning for inclusive cities in the Nordic region Sino-European innovative green and smart cities (SiEUGreen) Enhancing labour opportunities for women in the Nordic countries The Impact of Participation: mapping and developing the scope, forms and impacts of the communicative turn in urban planning (TIPTOP) Baltic Urban Lab – Integrated Planning and Partnership Model for Brownfield Development From Migrants to Workers
Related Publications
Executive Summary – Who is left behind? The impact of place on the ability to follow Covid-19 restrictions Who is left behind? The impact of place on the possibility to follow Covid-19 restrictions Overcoming barriers to social inclusion in Nordic cities through policy and planning Forskning och praktik i samverkan om medborgardeltagande i stadsplanering Making the most of brownfield sites in the Baltic Sea Region Developing brownfields via public-private-people partnerships Stege, trappa eller kub – hur analysera dialoger i stadsplanering? From migrants to workers: Regional and local practices on integration of labour migrants and refugees in rural areas in the Nordic countries Planning Systems and Legislation for Brownfield Development in the Central Baltic Countries Towards sustainable Nordic city-regions From migrants to workers: Immigration and integration at the local level in the Nordic countries
Related Events
Segregation, Covid-19 and living conditions – myths meet research 6 July: Nordregio joins Almedalen Week 2021 online Baltic Urban Lab’s Final Conference Launch meeting: Social Green – Regional Policies towards Greening the Social Housing Sector
Related News
Segregation, Covid-19 and living conditions – myths meet research Nordregio Researcher Fellow Sandra Oliveira e Costa named co-chief editor of PLAN! 30 Nov-1 Dec: Long-term vision for rural areas, SHERPA A Sustainable policy hub for rural actors – SHERPA Urban gardening demonstrates social empowerment: Taste Aarhus led to 300 initiatives Many faces of segregated cities: a Nordic Overview Results from Baltic Urban Lab: guides and tools for planning brownfields Greening our cities – new issue of Nordregio Magazine