Mina Akhavan

Postdoctoral Researcher

I am a multidisciplinary researcher and instructor in spatial planning and regional studies, with expertise in port-city regions, sustainable development, and spatial planning and design methodologies in the digital age. In 2021, I was awarded a Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship and led the project (Re)Connecting Maritime Ecosystems: Geospatial Mapping of the Spaces of Flows in Port-City Regions (RePortFlows, 2022–2024).

I previously worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Adjunct Professor at Politecnico di Milano, where I obtained my PhD in Spatial Planning and Urban Development. My research has been published in several peer-reviewed journals, and I have authored and co-edited multiple academic books and edited volumes.

Research

My work brings together multiple research lines (port-city-regions, mobility, proximity, sustainability and transition studies) through a shared focus on how spatial planning can intervene in integrated urban systems of flows, infrastructures, and institutions. In particular, my research on port-city-regions examines how systems of flows – goods, people, energy, ideas, and power – shape sustainable urban and regional development.

Within this broader agenda, the current project, Ways of Water – Overcoming Conflicting Sustainability Pathways in the Port of Amsterdam (WoWPoA), investigates how water infrastructures, governance arrangements, and stakeholder perceptions interact in the energy transition of the Port of Amsterdam. The project combines spatial-metabolic analysis and stakeholder engagement to identify leverage points for more just and resilient port-city transformations.

Publications

Akhavan, M. (2025). Decarbonising Maritime Transport: The Role of Green Shipping Corridors in Making Sustainable Port-City Ecosystems. Ocean and Society, 2, Article 9411.

Akhavan M. (2020). Port Infrastructure Developments and Port-City Interface Dynamics. Springer.

Akhavan M; Ghiara, H; Mariotti, I; Sillig C. (2020). Logistics global network connectivity and its determinants. A European City network analysis. Journal of Transport Geography 82.

Bobic, S., & Akhavan, M. (2025). Overtourism and gentrification in the eastern Mediterranean coastal cities: The need for a sustainable and integrated approach in World Heritage sites. In Maria Gravari-Barbas & Sandra Guinand (Eds.). Handbook of Tourism and Gentrification. Elgar Handbook Programme (pp. 157–182). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Projects