Francesco is an urban planner and architect with almost ten years of experience in working with intergovernmental organizations as well as niche-design and planning firms across Europa, South and South-East Asia, Northern and East Africa. Francesco currently is Research Associate at The Business School of Edinburgh Napier University, and a PhD student at the Academy of Architecture of Urban Studies of Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech).

He has managed and supported high-profile and complex projects for different agencies of the United Nations, such as UN-Habitat and UNHCR, providing technical and policy advice to national and local governments in areas of scarce resources and rapid change, with specific focus on capacity building and innovation as an enabling tool for the implementation of sustainable urban projects. 

As a doctoral student, Francesco conducts research on the governance mechanisms of smart city transition and their impact on urban planning and service delivery in the Global South and small urban contexts.