I am a PhD candidate in political science at Sciences Po's Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics (CEE). My research interests lie at the intersection of urban studies, comparative politics, and public policy. My doctoral research, under the supervision of Patrick Le Galès, develops a comparative historical analysis of the changes in the institutions governing informal land tenure in São Paulo and Mexico City over the past 50 years. 

Before joining Sciences Po, I earned a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Management from the Getulio Vargas Foundation and a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture and Urbanism from the University of São Paulo. I have collaborated on applied research projects with organizations such as URBEM, Instituto Escolhas, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, and CIPPEC. I also served as an advisor to the City Hall of São Paulo and worked as a consultant for Cities Alliance and the World Bank Group, engaging with a wide range of urban policy issues including socio-environmental risks, transportation and mobility, food systems, and land governance.

Alongside my research, I have taught master’s-level courses and coordinated the Cities are Back in Town research seminars at Sciences Po's Urban School. I received a writing-up grant from the IJURR Foundation and have held visiting researcher positions at El Colegio de México’s Center for Demographic, Urban, and Environmental Studies (Spring 2022 and 2023) and at the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford during the 2024–2025 academic year.

marcela [dot] alonsoferreira [at] sciencespo [dot] fr   googlescholar  bluesky   linkedin   researchgate