Claudia Sinatra

Claudia Sinatra is an urban designer and researcher based in Zurich with a background in architecture. Her expertise lies at the intersection of urban design and spatial planning, where she explores the dynamics of socio-spatial practices and their influence on city-making. Her research interests include on justice and equity in (public) spaces, urban geographies of care, and intersectional feminist spatial practices.

Claudia joined the SPUR Group in July 2022 contributing to the teaching of the Master's program in Spatial Development and Infrastructure Systems. Since February 2023, she teaches the Urban Design Studio for Plannerscourse. Prior to her current role, she held positions at multidisciplinary design firms and urban research centers in London, working at the intersection of socio-spatial research and design. Her professional portfolio includes complex masterplans, public realm schemes, environmental graphics, and placemaking strategies across Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Upon relocating to Switzerland, she worked at a Zurich-based spatial planning firm until 2023, leading urban analyses, potential studies, and strategic spatial concepts from territorial to site-specific scales. She also facilitated design competitions and further design processes fostering dialogue among diverse actors in complex urban transformation projects.

Claudia holds an MSc in City Design and Social Science from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE – Cities Programme) and an MSc in Architecture from the University of Ferrara (Italy), where she graduated with honors. During her studies, she also spent two semesters at the Technical University of Munich (Germany). She is a licensed architect in Italy (RIBA/SIA equivalent) and an active member of several professional organizations, including the Academy of Urbanism - Young Urbanists Network, Frau + SIA, andLARES Gender- und Alltagsgerechtes Planen & Bauen, through which she deepens her engagement with gender-sensitive spatial development.

In addition to her academic and professional endeavors, Claudia works as an independent graphic designer. Her approach integrates visual storytelling with urban research, within the pursuit of a critical debate around cities, communities, and places.