Dr Dorina Pojani
Dr

Dorina Pojani

Email: 
Phone: 
+61 7 336 56091

Background

I am an Associate Professor of urban planning. Since joining the University of Queensland in 2015, my research has focused on the built environment triad: urban design, transport, and housing - in both the Global North and South. I approach my work from a feminist perspective, considering the role of gender in the city.

My personal and academic journey has been international in nature. I am a native of Albania. Over the years I have held guest teaching and/or research positions in Austria (UWien), Canada (UBC), Chile (PUC), Italy (IUAV), the Netherlands (UvA), Oman (GUTech), and Vietnam (UTC), and I have provided consultancy services to various United Nations agencies including the UNDP, UNESCAP, and UN Habitat. I speak Italian, Spanish, and French in addition to English and Albanian.

My latest books are Trophy Cities: A Feminist Perspective on New Capitals (Edward Elgar, 2021) and Alternative Planning History and Theory (Routledge, 2023). For three years in a row (2022-2024), I have been included in the 'Stanford/Elsevier World’s Top 2% Researchers' list, and have ranked among the top-ten 'urban and regional planning' researchers in Australia. Alongside my academic research, I also publish broadly in non-academic outlets and regularly give interviews on national and international media. My articles in The Conversation have reached nearly half a million readers. Prior to joining academia, I worked in urban design and planning in California.

My research has been funded by domestic and international granting bodies, including the Australian Research Council. Overall, I have attracted $700,000 in external funding and $100,000 in internal funding. For a full list of my publications, click the 'Works' tab, which displays results live from UQ eSpace, or visit my external profiles listed on the left panel.

Qualifications

  • Postdoctoral Residency, Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft, the Netherlands. 2012-2014.
  • PhD in Urban Planning, Polytechnic University of Tirana, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tirana, Albania. 2007-2010.
  • Visiting PhD student, University of California at Los Angeles, Luskin School of Public Affairs, Los Angeles, Ca, USA. 2009.
  • Master in Urban Planning, University of Cincinnati, College of Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning, Cincinnati, Oh, USA. Full scholarship award. 2003-2005.
  • Visiting Master student, Catholic University of Leuven, Faculty of Architecture (St Lucas), Brussels, Belgium. Recipient of US government FIPSE grant. 2004.
  • Professional Degree in Architecture, Polytechnic University of Tirana, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tirana, Albania. 1998-2003.

Availability

Dr Dorina Pojani is:
Available for supervision
Media expert

Fields of research

Built Environment and Design Human Society Human geography Policy and administration Political science Sociology Urban and regional planning Urban sociology and community studies

Qualifications

  • Urban Transport in Developing Countries, Polytechnic University of Tirana
  • Master of Community Planning, University of Cincinnati

Research impacts

Funded Projects*

2025-2026. Project: Closing the loop on first/last mile transportation in Brisbane: Assessing the connection between micromobility and 50 cent public transport fares. iMove CRC, Brisbane City Council, Australia. Grant co-writer ($100,000).

2025. Project: Diaspora 4Innovation: Integrating work practice in urban planning curricula in Albania. GERMIN Fellowship, Albania. Lead grant writer ($18,500).

2023-2025. Project: Evaluation of separated cycle tracks in new developments. Transport Academic Partnership, Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, Australia. Sole grant writer ($50,000).

2023. Project: A gendered critique of early planned utopian cities. School of Architecture, Design and Planning Seed Funding, University of Queensland, Australia. Grant co-writer ($3,000).

2023-2025. Project: Study of factors associated with the choice of private electric transport vehicles in Vietnam. National Foundation for Science and Technology (NAFOSTED), Vietnam. Grant co-writer ($50,000).

2023-2024. Project: The woman-friendly city: Case studies of post-industrial areas in Tirana. READ Fellowship, Albanian-American Development Foundation, Albania. Lead grant writer ($17,000).

2022. Project: Minimising corruption in urban planning and development: What can the Balkans learn from Scandinavia? UQ Promoting Women Fellowship (PWF), Australia. Sole grant writer ($12,500).

2022. Project: We don’t know where to go or how to get there: Mapping out the mobility needs for tourists in urban destinations. UQ BEL Connect Grant, Australia. Grant co-writer ($18,500).

2021-2022. Project: The impact of Covid-19 on Brisbane / Southeast Queensland. UQ Faculty of Science COVID Research Recovery Fund, Australia. Lead grant writer ($50,000).

2021-2022. Project: Bikeability for Transportation: Tools and Data for Research and Practice. AURIN grant, Australia. Grant co-writer ($135,600).

2017-2020. Project: Reclaiming lost ground: Transitions of mobility and parking. Australian Research Council, Linkage grant, Australia. Grant co-writer ($358,000).

2016. Project: Planning Tiger Cub City-Regions: Role Models and Policy Transfers in Sustainable Transport in Southeast Asia. Project based in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand. UQ Early Career Researcher grant, Australia. Sole grant writer ($26,150).

2015-2017. Project: Urban planning issues in planned capital cities in seven countries: Burma, India, Korea, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Brazil, and Australia. UQ Startup grant, Australia. Sole grant writer ($15,000).

2014-2015. Project: Informal Housing in five Balkan countries: Serbia, Northern Macedonia, Bosnia, Albania, and Kosovo. Grant from: Van Eesteren-Fluck & Van Lohuizen Stichting (EFL) Foundation, The Netherlands. Sole grant writer ($15,000).

Editorial Boards

  • Sustainable Cities and Society
  • Journal of Transport Geography
  • Australian Planner
  • Urban Policy and Research
  • Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice
  • Journal of Planning Education and Research

Search Professor Dorina Pojani’s works on UQ eSpace

221 works between 2004 and 2025
All (221) Journal Article (138) Book Chapter (27) Conference Publication (8) Book (7) Other Outputs (39) Edited Outputs (2)

221 - 221 of 221 works

2004

Book

Urbanistika në ekonominë e tregut

Kenneth Baar and Dorina Pojani eds. (2004). Urbanistika në ekonominë e tregut. Tirana, Albania: Dita2000.

Urbanistika në ekonominë e tregut

Current funding

  • 2023 - 2025
    Evaluation of separated cycle tracks in new developments
    Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2021 - 2023
    Bikeability for transportation: tools and data for research and practice
    Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network
    Open grant
  • 2016 - 2021
    Reclaiming lost ground: Transitions of mobility and parking
    ARC Linkage Projects
    Open grant
  • 2016
    Planning Tiger Cub City-regions: role models and policy transfers in sustainable transport in Southeast Asia
    UQ Early Career Researcher
    Open grant

Availability

Dr Dorina Pojani is:
Available for supervision

Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.

Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Reconstructing A Gender Perspective Approach for a Sustainable New Capital City

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Sara Alidoust

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Housing affordability issues in Malaysia

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Sara Alidoust

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Active Citizenship in planning scheme implementation : A case study into how members of a community engage in the development assessment process in Queensland

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Honorary Professor Neil Sipe

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Active transport and gender issues: A comparison between Brisbane and Sylhet

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Sara Alidoust

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Are car-free lifestyles feasible in low-density, sprawling contexts? A comparison of a city in Australia and Saudi Arabia

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Sara Alidoust

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Policy Barriers to Livable Cities in South East Queensland

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Sara Alidoust

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Digital Deconcentration and the Changing Face of American Cities: Examining the Effects of Working from Home on America¿s Post-pandemic Urbanisation.

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Thomas Sigler

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Residents¿ perceptions of a government-initiated anti-gating policy: A study of open communities in Shanghai

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Ali Cheshmehzangi, Dr Sara Alidoust

Completed supervision

Enquiries

Contact Dr Dorina Pojani directly for media enquiries about:

  • affordable housing
  • community
  • compact cities
  • cycling
  • mobility
  • neighbourhood design
  • parking
  • pedestrian areas
  • public transport
  • sustainability
  • urban planning

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