Dr Pamela Duran Diaz
Senior Planning Specialist and Assistant Professor
- Email address
- durandiaz@ihs.nl
- Phone
- +31104081126
Dr. Pamela Duran Diaz is a Senior Planning Specialist and lecturer in the master’s track on Strategic Urban Planning and Policies at IHS. Concurrently, she is pursuing a Habilitation in Sustainable Land Governance for WEF Systems at the Technical University of Munich.
She embarked on her academic journey by studying Architecture at Tecnológico de Monterrey (Mexico) before pursuing a Master’s and a PhD in Urbanism at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Spain). After completing her doctoral studies, Dr. Duran Diaz dedicated herself to postdoctoral research, delving into the Sustainable Management of Cultural Landscapes in China, Mali, and Mexico at UPC. Simultaneously, she shared her expertise by teaching Urban History at the Barcelona Architecture Center.
In 2016, Dr. Duran Diaz joined the Chair of Land Management at the Technical University of Munich (Germany) as the coordinator of the Doctoral and Master’s programs on Land Management and Geospatial Science, assuming the role of a Scientific Researcher. She led the ADLAND project during her second postdoc, which focused on Strengthening Land Governance in Africa. This capacity-building initiative was a collaboration with six European universities and the Network of Excellence on Land Governance in Africa (NELGA), funded by GIZ. Dr Duran Diaz also served as the Team Leader of Land Management in the AI4EI project, exploring the potential of Artificial Intelligence for land governance in the context of extracting critical materials for the transition to renewable energy.
Beyond her academic roles, she is a prominent figure in the global academic community. She is a guest lecturer at UNESCO Chair FLACAM, co-convener of the Sustainability team at Our World Heritage Foundation, and a scientific advisor at TU eMpower Africa. Her diverse research interests show her dedication to broader goals in sustainable development and cultural preservation. Dr. Duran Diaz’s research encompasses Urban and Rural Development, Land Governance and Policies, Anthropologies of Water, WEF Nexus for Food Sovereignty, and (In)Tangible World Heritage and Cultural Landscapes. Her work underscores the importance of integrating natural and built environments, valuing both tangible and intangible heritage, and leveraging local culture as a catalyst for sustainable development.
In her dynamic career, Dr. Duran Diaz continues to lead impactful research projects, contributing significantly to the advancement of her field and actively engaging with global initiatives focused on sustainability and heritage preservation.
| Chaturvedi, V., Durán-Díaz, P. and de Vries, W. T. (2025). A remote sensing-based methodology to assess the vulnerability, versatility, and vitality (3Vs) of rural towns: Bayerisch Eisenstein and Tuchenbach, Germany, in: M. Sahana (Ed.) Remote sensing and GIS in peri-urban research. Perspectives on global change, sustainability and resilience(Vol. 11). Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp. 71-87. |
| Do Couto, E. V., Carletti, R., de Vries, W. T. and Durán-Díaz, P. (2025). Spatial and temporal effects of urban growth in Manaus: Examining urban and peri-urban sprawl in the heart of the world’s largest tropical rainforest, Brazil, in: M. Sahana (Ed.) Remote sensing and GIS in peri-urban research. Perspectives on global change, sustainability and resilience (Vol. 11). Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp. 409-428. |
| Adjei, B., Tudzi, E. P., Owusu-Ansah, A., Kidido, J. K. and Durán-Díaz, P. (2024). The impacts of mining industries on land tenure in Ghana: A comprehensive systematic literature review, Land, 13(9), 1386 (First online 29 August 2024) https://doi.org/10.3390/land13091386 |
| Durán-Díaz, P., Kreutzer, M., Gigl, L-M. and Keilmann-Gondhalekar, D. (2024). A geospatial analysis for an integrated land use and water strategy for Bagmati River in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, in: W. T. de Vries, I. Rudiarto & N. P. M Milinda Piyasena (Eds.), Geospatial science for smart land management: An Asian context. Boca Raton: CRC Press <Forthcoming>. |
| Rojas-Rivero, A., Durán-Díaz, P., López-Lambas, M. E. & Soria-Lara, J. A. (2024).Cocreando escenarios disruptivos para la integración resiliente del transporte y usos de suelo en municipios insulares con alta dependencia del turismo. Ciudad Y Territorio Estudios Territoriales, 56(220), 549-566. https://doi.org/10.37230/CyTET.2024.220.11 |
| Agboeze, A. I., Vries, W. T. de & Durán-Díaz, P. (2023). Occupants’ pinions on housing conditions: The case of affordable housing schemes in Enugu, Nigeria turning into slums. African Journal on Land Policy and Geospatial Sciences, 6(4), 652-671. http://doi.org/10.48346/IMIST.PRSM/ajlp-gs.v6i4.39744 |
| Durán-Díaz, P. (2023). Sustainable land governance for water–energy–food systems: A framework for rural and peri-urban revitalisation. Land, 12(10), 1828. http://doi.org/10.3390/land12101828 |
| Salamanca-Cano, A. K. & Durán-Díaz, P. (2023). Stakeholder engagement around water governance: 30 years of decision-making in the Bogotá river basin. Urban Science, 7(3), 81. http://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci7030081 |
| Schumacher, M., Guizar Villalvazo, M., Kurjenoja, A. K. & Durán-Díaz, P. (2023). The writ of amparo and indigenous consultation as instruments to enforce inclusive land management in San Andrés Cholula, Mexico. Land, 12(1), 9. http://doi.org/10.3390/land12010009 |
| Schumacher, M., Kurjenoja Lounassaari, A. K. and Durán-Díaz, P. (2023). Herramientas gráficas análisis del paisaje biocultural a través de la vision figurativa de Humboldt y la cosmovisión nahua en Cuetzalan. In: Mónica E. López-Franco and Alehandro Pérez- Duarte Fernández (Eds.) Memorias de Cuatro Congreso Internacional del Hábitat y Sustentabilidad. Tlaquepaque: Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente, (ITESO), pp. 257-269. |
| Chavunduka, C., Vries, W. T. de & Durán-Díaz, P. (2022). Furthering sustainable and smart spatial planning in Africa. In: W. T. de Vries, J. T. Bugri & F. Mandhu (Eds.), Responsible and smart land management interventions: An African context (pp. 299-304). Boca Raton: CRC Press. |
| Chavunduka, C., Vries, W. T. de & Durán-Díaz, P. (2022). Sustainable and smart spatial planning in Africa. In W. T. de Vries, J. T. Bugri & F. Mandhu (Eds.), Responsible and smart land management interventions: An African context (pp. 3-7). Boca Raton: CRC Press. |
| Chavunduka, C., Vries, W. T. de & Durán-Díaz, P. (Eds.). (2022). Sustainable and smart spatial planning in Africa: Case studies and solutions. Boca Raton: CRC Press. |
| Durán-Díaz, P. (2022). Transnational land governance for sustainable development. In: W. T. de Vries, J. T. Bugri & F. Mandhu (Eds.), Responsible and smart land management interventions: An African context (pp. 89-106). Boca Raton: CRC Press. |
| Durán-Díaz, P., Tusiime, P. & Dachaga, W. (2022). Urban identities in the context of land management: Evidence from urban development processes in Kibuga in Kampala, Uganda. In T. W. de Vries, J. T. Bugri & F. Mandhu (Eds.), Responsible and smart land management interventions: An African context (pp. 121-132). Boca Raton: CRC Press. |
| Moreno, C. S., Roman-Cuesta, R. M., Canty, S. W. J., Herrera, J., Teutli, C., Muñiz-Castillo, A. I., McField, M., Soto, M., Amaral, C. do, Paton, S., González-Trujillo, J. D., Poulter, B., Schumacher, M. & Durán-Díaz, P. (2022). Stakeholders’ perceptions of nature-based solutions for hurricane risk reduction policies in the Mexican Caribbean. Land, 11(10), 1701. https://doi.org/10.3390/land11101701 |
| Tepnadze, M., Vries, W. T. de, Durán-Díaz, P. & Bichia, Q. (2022). An experimental study of the social dimension of land consolidation using trust games and public goods games. Land, 11(12), 2322. https://doi.org/10.3390/land11122322 |
| Gutiérrez Juárez, E., Kurjenoja, A. K., Schumacher, M., Guizar Villalvazo, M., Gonzalez Meza, E., & Durán-Díaz, P. (2022). Neoliberal urban development vs. rural communities: Land management challenges in San Andrés Cholula, Mexico. Land, 11(7), 1058. http://doi.org/10.3390/land11071058 |
| Durán-Díaz, P., Morales, E. R. & Schumacher, M. (2021). Using urban literacy to strengthen land governance and women's empowerment in peri-urban communities of San Andrés Cholula, Mexico. In: U. E. Chigbu (Ed.), Land governance and gender: The tenure-gender nexus in land management and land policy (pp. 222-233). Wallingford: CABI International. https://doi.org/10.1079/9781789247664.0018 |
| Chekole, S. D., Vries, W. T. de, Durán-Díaz, P. & Shibeshi, G. B. (2021). Analyzing the effects of institutional merger: Case of cadastral information registration and landholding right providing institutions in Ethiopia. Land, 10(4), 404. http://doi.org/10.3390/land10040404 |
| Vries, W. T. de, Chigbu, U. E. & Durán-Díaz, P. (2021). Twenty years of building capacity in land management, land tenure and urban land governance. In R. Home (Ed.), Land issues for urban governance in Sub-Saharan Africa (Local and urban governance) (pp. 121-136). Cham: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52504-0_8 |
| .Chekole, S. D., Vries, W. T. de, Durán-Díaz, P. & Shibeshi, G. B. (2020). Performance evaluation of the urban cadastral system in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Land, 9(12), 505. http://doi.org/10.3390/land9120505 |
| Schumacher, M., Durán-Díaz, P., Kurjenoja, A. K., Gutiérrez-Juárez, E. & González-Rivas, D. A. (2019). Evolution and collapse of ejidos in Mexico - To what extent is communal land used for urban development? Land, 8(10), 146. https://doi.org/10.3390/land8100146 |
| Durán Díaz, P. (2016). Extreme cultural landscapes in the context of globalisation: Mali, China and Mexico. In: Red Global MX Europe (Ed.), The future of professional fields: Views from the Mexican diaspora in Europe (pp. 258-280). Dublin: Red Global MX Europe |
| Durán Díaz, P. (2014). El río como eje de vertebración territorial y urbana : El río San Marcos en Ciudad Victoria, México [doctoral thesis]. Barcelona: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/146188 |