Books By Abigail Friendly, Ana Paula Pimentel Walker - Author

Abigail Friendly is Assistant Professor in Spatial Planning at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. She explores intersections between planning and governance, and the potential of planning tools and community participation to address spatial inequality in cities. Her recent research investigates precarious forms of housing experienced by marginalized residents. Friendly is an international expert on the Brazilian experience in applying the right to the city. Her recent book is titled Claiming the Right to the City: Rethinking Urban Transformations in Brazil. She holds degrees in urban planning and political science.

Ana Paula Pimentel Walker is an Urban Planning Associate Professor at The University of Michigan. She investigates how communities engage with urban governance and evaluates the significance of participatory institutions in planning healthy, environmentally just cities. Her action research identifies overlapping oppressions that restrict marginalized communities' participation in local governance and elevates the voices of migrants and precariously housed residents through organizing, popular education, and access to justice. Pimentel Walker is the recipient of the 2025 Marilyn J. Gittell Activist Scholar Award from the Urban Affairs Association. She holds degrees in law, urban planning, Latin American studies, and anthropology.