Professor Vanesa Castan Broto

Faculty of Social Sciences

Professor of Climate Urbanism

A profile picture of Vanesa Castàn Broto
Profile picture of A profile picture of Vanesa Castàn Broto
v.castanbroto@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 7942
The Wave

Full contact details

Professor Vanesa Castan Broto
Faculty of Social Sciences
The Wave
2 Whitham Road
Sheffield
S10 2AH
Profile

I joined the University of Sheffield in September 2017, following an appointment as a Professorial Fellow in the Faculty of Social Sciences. Since then, I have coordinated multiple consortiums researching climate urbanism and sustainable energy transitions funded by UKRI, the ERC, the British Academy, and the Leverhulme Trust, among others.

Currently, I am leading the international consortium  (advancing gender equality and social inclusion in the energy transition) and co-leading the project  (to facilitate adaptation in informal settlements in cities in the Philippines). My recent work has focused on institutional ethnography as a method to challenge existing drivers of structural discrimination.

In September 2025, I was appointed as a member of the  by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to write the 2027 Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR). 

Some of the recognition I have received for my work include the , the 2016  for contributions to Geography, and the  that support the Urban Poor. 

I am Associate Editor of , and I have just concluded my tenure as Associate Editor for .

Research interests

At the Urban Institute, I coordinate the group working on Climate Urbanism, looking at how climate change is governed in urban areas and with what consequences. 

From 2020 to 2025, I led an international assessment of the potential of community energy to facilitate transitions to sustainable energy. The assessment was conducted by the team behind the project CESET. We wrote a book called  bringing together multiple experiences from different disciplines and from community energy managers on the ground. The project data can be analysed in a paper recently published in . 

I coordinated the city-based research component of the project , whose objective was to learn from co-production experiences across the world. In November 2025, we published an edited collection called  to showcase many positive examples of co-production and a comparative analysis of how different institutional and political conditions generate variegated approaches to co-production. The research was informed by a pressing concern with the potential of co-production to challenge , lack of  of minority groups, and advance . 

I led the project Low Carbon Action in Ordinary Cities () to assess climate change innovation in less-examined urban areas around the world (the team focused on a sample of smaller cities in rapidly urbanising areas). The project delivered insights into the  of climate change in cities, the quest for , and how place-based innovation could be fostered through different forms of . We also developed new methodologies, including a means to  to analyse sustainability trajectories. The ideas of  and  were particularly influential in this project. 

In addition to my current and recently completed projects, I have a long-standing interest in several topics: 

Infrastructure landscapes: Infrastructure landscapes are fascinating, and the landscape perspective opens up alternative ways to think about socio-ecological relations and how their aesthetics became a subtle form of politics. I wrote a book on this topic called , but I am always interested in developing a landscape perspective. 

Environmental Justice: Environmental justice and its different manifestations have motivated me both as a political agenda and as a research agenda. Working with Linda Westman, we wrote a book called  (open access), and I have continued engaging with the topic, particularly through the idea of  and imagination and the transformative potential of different narratives. 

Messiness and governance: The seeping of messiness into attempts to build authority over the urban environment has been a topic I have followed, articulating multiple forms of theorisation, including a book-length treatment with Harriet Bulkeley and Gareth Edwards called An , which focused on experiments. I have written on the politics of climate change in cities, but perhaps my two favourite papers on this topic are the ones that discuss  and .

I was a Lead Author for the 6th Assessment Report, , of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and I have contributed to various international reports, most recently contributing a chapter on resilient housing to the 2026 World Cities Report on .

Publications

Books

  • (2025) CO-PRODUCTION OF KNOWLEDGE IN ACTION Emancipatory Strategies for Urban.
  • Castan Broto V & Westman L (2019) . London: Zed Books.
  • Castán Broto V (2019) . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Broto VC & Westman L (2019) . Zed Books Ltd.
  • Castán Broto V, Ensor J, Boyd E, Allen C, Seventine C & Augusto Macucule D (2015) . UCL Press.
  • Bulkeley HA, Broto VC & Edwards GAS (2014) An Urban Politics of Climate Change: Experimentation and the Governing of Socio-Technical Transitions. Abingdon: Routledge.

Journal articles

  • Ruiz de Gopegui M, Olazabal M & Castán Broto V (2026) . European Planning Studies, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print), 1-22.
  • Castán Broto V, Gebreslassie MG & To LS (2025) . Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability, 5(4), 040201-040201.
  • Huang P, Castán Broto V & Westman L (2025) . Technology Analysis & Strategic Management.
  • Ruiz de Gopegui M, Olazabal M, Castán Broto V & McPhearson T (2025) . Urban Climate, 62.
  • Vallecha H, Gebreslassie M, Filli F, Hara C, Gogoda C, Assefa A, To LS, Kirshner J & Castán Broto V (2025) . Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability, 5(1).
  • Castán Broto V & Marvin S (2024) . Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space.
  • Huang P, Broto VC & Westman L (2024) . Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 53.
  • Ruiz de Gopegui Aramburu M, Olazabal M & Broto VC (2024) . Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, 2(3), 271-315.
  • Gebreslassie MG, Bekele G, Bahta ST, Mebrahtu AH, Assefa A, Nurhussien FF, Habtu D, Lake A, Broto VC & Mulugetta Y (2024) . Energy Research & Social Science, 117.
  • Castán Broto V, Olazabal M & Ziervogel G (2024) . Buildings and Cities, 5(1), 199-214.
  • McLaren DP, Anderson C, Barry J, Castán Broto V, de Cheveigné S, Chilvers J, Crowther A, Hupé J-M, Kalaugher L, Labussiere O , Rothery TL et al (2024) . Frontiers in Education, 9.
  • Dias SM, Castán Broto V, Cypriano B, Ogando AC & Gonçalves J (2024) . Environment and Urbanization, 36(1), 93-111.
  • Perry B, Castán Broto V, Patel Z & Sitas R (2024) . Planning Theory, 23(4), 423-445.
  • Castán Broto V, Westman L & Huang P (2023) . Buildings and Cities, 4(1), 973-989.
  • Dodds K, Taylor Z, Akbari A, Broto VC, Detterbeck K, Inverardi-Ferri C, Lee KO, Mamadouh V, Ramutsindela M & Woon CY (2023) . Territory, Politics, Governance, 11(8), 1519-1536.
  • Lobo J, Aggarwal RM, Alberti M, Allen-Dumas M, Bettencourt LMA, Boone C, Brelsford C, Broto VC, Eakin H, Bagchi-Sen S , Meerow S et al (2023) . npj Urban Sustainability, 3(1).
  • Delgado G, Castán Broto V & Mukesi T (2023) . Urban Planning, 8(2).
  • Westman L, Castán Broto V & Huang P (2023) . Global Environmental Politics, 23(2), 102-124.
  • Castán Broto V, Westman L & Huang P (2023) . Journal of Planning Literature, 38(3), 380-394.
  • Castán Broto V & Robin E (2023) . Landscape Research, 48(2), 165-173.
  • Späth P, Castán Broto V, Bawakyillenuo S & Pregernig M (2022) . Energy, Sustainability and Society, 12(1).
  • Simone A & Castán Broto V (2022) . City, 26(5-6), 771-790.
  • Olazabal M & Castán Broto V (2022) . Buildings & Cities, 3(1), 570-588.
  • Castan Broto V (2022) . Raumforschung und Raumordnung | Spatial Research and Planning, 80(4), 502-504.
  • Gebreslassie MG, Cuvilas C, Zalengera C, To LS, Baptista I, Robin E, Bekele G, Howe L, Shenga C, Macucule DA , Kirshner J et al (2022) . Energy, Sustainability and Society, 12(1).
  • Castán Broto V, Robin E & Whitehead T (2022) . Landscape Research, 48(2), 255-269.
  • Dodds K, Broto VC, Detterbeck K, Jones M, Mamadouh V, Ramutsindela M, Varsanyi M, Wachsmuth D & Woon CY (2022) . Territory, Politics, Governance, 10(2), 145-158.
  • Ruszczyk HA, Castán Broto V & McFarlane C (2022) . Geoforum, 131, 105-115.
  • Westman L & Castán Broto V (2022) . Antipode, 54(4), 1320-1343.
  • Westman L, Patterson J, Macrorie R, Orr CJ, Ashcraft CM, Castán Broto V, Dolan D, Gupta M, van der Heijden J, Hickmann T , Hobbins R et al (2022) . Ambio, 51, 1402-1415.
  • Waterton E, Broto VC, Fairclough G, Jones K & Watt LA (2022) . Landscape Research, 47(1), 1-9.
  • Castan Broto V (2022) . Journal of Urban Technology, 29(1), 87-93.
  • Castán Broto V, Ortiz C, Lipietz B, Osuteye E, Johnson C, Kombe W, Mtwangi-Limbumba T, Cazanave Macías J, Desmaison B, Hadny A , Kisembo T et al (2022) . Current Research in Environmental Sustainability, 4, 100179-100179.
  • Castán Broto V, Westman L & Huang P (2021) . Journal of the British Academy, 9s9(S9), 205-218.
  • Huang P, Westman L & Castán Broto V (2021) . Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 41, 99-101.
  • Castán Broto V (2021) . The AAG Review of Books, 9(4), 1-3.
  • Broto VC (2021) . Environment and Urbanization, 33(2), 310-329.
  • Olazabal M, Chu E, Castán Broto V & Patterson J (2021) . One Earth, 4(6), 828-838.
  • Huang P, Westman L & Castán Broto V (2021) . Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 46(4), 900-916.
  • Ruiz-Campillo X, Castán Broto V & Westman L (2021) . Politics and Governance, 9(2), 17-28.
  • Davies AR, Castan Broto V & Hügel S (2021) . Politics and Governance, 9(2), 1-7.
  • Westman L & Castán Broto V (2021) . Local Environment, 26(5), 536-541.
  • Ghosh E, Friend R, Anderson KF, Castán Broto V, Tuniz J, Markkanen S, Vaughan L & Rusca M (2021) . One Earth, 4(2), 161-164.
  • Castán Broto V, Sudhira HS & Unnikrishnan H (2021) . International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 45(4), 696-715.
  • Pihl E, Alfredsson E, Bengtsson M, Bowen KJ, Cástan Broto V, Chou KT, Cleugh H, Ebi K, Edwards CM, Fisher E , Friedlingstein P et al (2021) . Global Sustainability, 4.
  • Unnikrishnan H, B. M, Nagendra H & Castán Broto V (2021) . Urban Geography, 42(3), 263-288.
  • Castán Broto V & Robin E (2020) . Urban Geography, 42(6), 715-720.
  • Broto VC (2020) . Territory, Politics, Governance, 8(5), 599-603.
  • Huang P, Castán Broto V & Westman LK (2020) . Environmental Policy and Governance, 30(6), 306-318.
  • Castán Broto V, Mah D, Zhang F, Huang P, Lo K & Westman L (2020) . Urban Transformations, 2(1).
  • Castán Broto V & Westman LK (2020) . Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 11(4).
  • Castán Broto V, Arthur MDFSR & Guibrunet L (2020) . Energy Research & Social Science, 65, 101478-101478.
  • Castán Broto V (2020) . Urban Studies, 57(11), 2371-2379.
  • Castán Broto V & Sanzana Calvet M (2020) . Journal of Political Ecology, 27(1), 279-299.
  • Castán Broto V (2020) . Territory, Politics, Governance, 8(2), 241-258.
  • Sawas A, Castán Broto V, Anwar NH & Rehman A (2020) . Community Development Journal, 55(1), 83-101.
  • Lo K & Castán Broto V (2019) . Global Environmental Change, 59.
  • Castán Broto V & Sudhira HS (2019) . Urban Studies, 56(11), 2261-2279.
  • Castán Broto V, Trencher G, Iwaszuk E & Westman L (2019) . Ambio: A Journal of the Human Environment, 48(5), 449-462.
  • Westman LK, Castán Broto V & Huang P (2019) . Political Geography, 70, 14-23.
  • Westman LK & Castán Broto V (2019) . Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 37(2), 277-297.
  • Castán Broto V, Baptista I, Kirshner J, Smith S & Neves Alves S (2018) . Applied Energy, 228, 645-655.
  • Castán Broto V & Neves Alves S (2018) . Environment and Urbanization, 30(2), 367-386.
  • Huang P & Castán Broto V (2018) . Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 28, 35-45.
  • Mulugetta Y & Castán Broto V (2018) . Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 30, 82-88.
  • Westman L & Castan Broto V (2018) . Global Environmental Change, 50, 212-221.
  • Huang P, Broto VC, Liu Y & Ma H (2018) . Journal of Cleaner Production, 180, 222-231.
  • Lopez-Navarro MA, Tortosa-Edo V & Castan-Broto V (2018) . Journal of Cleaner Production, 186, 22-33.
  • Castán Broto V & Baker L (2018) . Energy Research and Social Science, 36, 1-10.
  • Huang P, Castán Broto V & Liu Y (2018) . Energy Research and Social Science, 36, 156-164.
  • Castán Broto V (2018) . Climate Policy, 18(2), 170-183.
  • Guibrunet L, Sanzana Calvet M & Castán Broto V (2017) . Geoforum, 85, 353-367.
  • Castán Broto V & Westman L (2017) . Local Environment, 22(5), 635-650.
  • Castán Broto V (2017) . World Development, 93, 1-15.
  • Trencher G, Castán Broto V, Takagi T, Sprigings Z, Nishida Y & Yarime M (2016) . Environmental Science & Policy, 66, 353-365.
  • Castán Broto V & Dewberry E (2016) . Journal of Cleaner Production, 112, 3018-3027.
  • Castán Broto V (2016) . Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 18(5), 712-729.
  • Castan Broto V (2015) . Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 33(3), 460-476.
  • Walsh CL, Glendinning S, Castán-Broto V, Dewberry E & Powell M (2015) . Futures, 67, 1-10.
  • Broto VC (2015) . ENVIRONMENT AND PLANNING D-SOCIETY & SPACE, 33(3), 460-476.
  • Boyd E, Ensor J, Broto VC & Juhola S (2014) . Global Environmental Change, 26, 140-151.
  • Castán Broto V, Glendinning S, Dewberry E, Walsh C & Powell M (2014) . Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 84, 186-196.
  • Powell M, Glendinning S, Castán Broto V, Dewberry E & Walsh C (2014) . Anthropology in Action, 21(2).
  • Bulkeley H, Castán Broto V & Maassen A (2014) . Urban Studies, 51(7), 1471-1486.
  • Bulkeley H & Castán Broto V (2014) . Contemporary Social Science, 9(4), 393-414.
  • Bulkeley H, Carmin J, Castán Broto V, Edwards GAS & Fuller S (2013) . Global Environmental Change, 23(5), 914-925.
  • Broto VC & Bulkeley H (2013) . International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 37(6), 1934-1948.
  • Castán Broto V, Oballa B & Junior P (2013) . Local Environment, 18(6), 678-704.
  • Castán Broto V & Bulkeley H (2013) . Global Environmental Change, 23(1), 92-102.
  • Bulkeley H & Castán Broto V (2013) . Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 38(3), 361-375.
  • Castán Broto V (2012) . Local Environment, 17(8), 879-895.
  • Castán Broto V, Gislason M & Ehlers M-H (2009) . Environmental Science & Policy, 12(7), 922-933.
  • Doick KJ, Sellers G, Castan-Broto V & Silverthorne T (2009) . Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 8(3), 163-178.
  • Castán Broto V (2009) . Sociology, 43(3), 573-579.
  • Castán Broto V, Carter C & Elghali L (2009) . Environmental Politics, 18(2), 279-286.
  • Castán Broto V, Gebreslassie M, Bekele G, Assefa A, Lake A, Habtu D, Bahta ST, Filli Nurhussien F, Gogoda C, Hara C , Howe L et al () . npj Clean Energy, 2(1).
  • Elmqvist T, Anderson P, Andersson E, Broto VC, Liu T, McPhearson T, Prakash A, Raymond C, Romero-Lankao P, Subramanian SM & Zhang X () . npj Urban Sustainability, 6(1).
  • Castán Broto V, Osuteye E, Ortiz C, Lipietz B, Johnson C & Kombe W () . Ensayo: Revista de arquitectura, urbanismo y territorio(3), 165-185.
  • Romero-Lankao P, Rosner N, Brandtner C, Rea C, Mejia-Montero A, Pilo F, Dokshin F, Castan-Broto V, Burch S & Schnur S () . Nature Energy, 8(11), 1192-1198.
  • Castán Broto V & Kirshner J () . Nature Energy, 5(6), 419-421.
  • Fuso Nerini F, Tomei J, To LS, Bisaga I, Parikh P, Black M, Borrion A, Spataru C, Castán Broto V, Anandarajah G , Milligan B et al () . Nature Energy, 3(1), 10-15.
  • Castán Broto V, Salazar D & Adams K () . People, Place and Policy Online, 8(3), 192-207.

Book chapters

  • Qviström M, Luka N, Butler A, Castán Broto V, Doughty K, Garlick B, Hine A, Kirby M, Palang H, Scott A & Thompson-Fawcett M (2025) , A Research Agenda for Landscape Studies of Planning (pp. 179-186). Edward Elgar Publishing
  • Broto VC (2025) , A Research Agenda for Landscape Studies of Planning (pp. 45-58). Edward Elgar Publishing
  • Castan Broto V (2024) In Peake L, Datta A & Adeniyi-Ogunyankin G (Ed.), Handbook on Gender and Cities (pp. 226-236). Edward Elgar Publishing
  • Castán Broto V (2024) , Community Energy and Sustainable Energy Transitions (pp. 1-21). Springer Nature Switzerland
  • Castán Broto V (2024) , Community Energy and Sustainable Energy Transitions (pp. 71-93). Springer Nature Switzerland
  • Ortiz C, Padan Y, Desmaison B, Mbabazi J, Rendell J, Broto VC, Mukwaya PI & Kisembo T (2024) , ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF URBAN DESIGN RESEARCH METHODS (pp. 191-202).
  • Castán Broto V (2023) In Armiero M, Turhan E & de Rosa SP (Ed.), Urban Movements and Climate Change: Loss, Damage and Radical Adaptation (pp. 35-50). Amsterdam University Press
  • Ortiz C, Padan Y, Desmaison B, Mbabazi J, Rendell J, Castán Broto V, Isolo Mukwaya P & Kisembo T (2023) , The Routledge Handbook of Urban Design Research Methods (pp. 191-202). Routledge
  • Dodman D, Hayward B, Pellling M, Castan Broto V, Chow W, Chu E, Dawson R, Khirfan L, McPhearson T, Prakash A , Zheng Y et al (2023) In Pörtner H-O, Roberts DC, Tignor M, Poloczanska ES, Mintenbeck K, Alegría A, Craig M, Langsdorf S, Löschke S, Möller V , Okem A et al (Ed.), Climate Change 2022 – Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability: Working Group II Contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (pp. 907-1040). Cambridge University Press
  • Castán Broto V & Robin E (2023) , Handbook on Energy Justice (pp. 253-268). Edward Elgar Publishing
  • Castan Broto V, Westman L, Huang P & Robin E (2023) Just sustainabilities in a changing climate In Rice JL, Long J & Levenda A (Ed.), Urban Climate Justice: Theory, Praxis, Resistance (pp. 29-45). University of Georgia Press
  • Castán Broto V, Westman L & Ruiz Campillo X (2022) , Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Climate Science Oxford University Press
  • Castán Broto V (2021) In Lancione M & MacFarlane C (Ed.), Global Urbanism: Knowledge, Power and the City (pp. 219-226). Routledge
  • Rigon A & Castán Broto V (2021) , Inclusive Urban Development in the Global South (pp. 1-14). Routledge
  • Robin E & Castán Broto V (2021) , Inclusive Urban Development in the Global South (pp. 182-197). Routledge
  • Westman L & Castán Broto V (2020) , Climate Urbanism (pp. 83-95). Springer International Publishing
  • Castán Broto V, Robin E & While A (2020) , Climate Urbanism (pp. 1-11). Springer International Publishing
  • Robin E, Westman L & Castán Broto V (2020) , Climate Urbanism (pp. 15-30). Springer International Publishing
  • Castán Broto V, Robin E & While A (2020) , Climate Urbanism (pp. 243-252). Springer International Publishing
  • Levy C, Allen A, Castán Broto V & Westman L (2017) , Sustainable Cities in Asia (pp. 7-22). Routledge
  • Castán Broto V & Bulkeley H (2017) , Sustainable Cities (pp. 101-126). Apple Academic Press
  • Salazar D, Castán Broto V & Adams K (2017) , Environmental Justice and Urban Resilience in the Global South (pp. 259-276). Palgrave Macmillan US
  • (2015) , The Anthropology of Postindustrialism (pp. 15-35). Routledge

Preprints

  • Huang P, Castán Broto V & Westman L () .