Phd in MODELS FOR ECONOMICS AND FINANCE

Giacomo Spanu is a Ph.D. student in Models for Economics and Finance, specialising in Economic Geography, at the Faculty of Economics of the Sapienza University of Rome. He holds an M.Sc. in Global and Local Development from the University of Bologna and an M.A. in European Planning from the University of Cagliari. He has work experience in urban development projects. His research interests focus on military geographies, local development policies, formal and informal urban practices and social movements. Following an interdisciplinary research approach, combining qualitative and quantitative methods, he aims to highlight the different dimensions of multi-scalar policies and strategies and the dynamics of cooperation and opposition.

The PhD project "The Dual-Use City. An Urban Perspective on Contemporary Military Geographies" aims to analyse the influences of the presence of military communities and (infra)structures on urban development and socio-spatial practices in cities "at peace". The distinctive element of the research is the attempt to bring critical military geographies into dialogue with urban studies and urban geopolitics. In this sense, the project develops along three axes: The study of the construction of the image of the city as a product of collaboration and opposition between different actors (Armed Forces, DifesaServizi SpA, Region of Sardinia, Municipality of Cagliari, University of Cagliari, Port Authority of the Sea of Sardinia); the study of the transcale networks developed by dual-use infrastructures (mainly the port and the 'ex-Pol Nato' pipeline); the analysis of civil-military interactions in everyday life in and around military landscapes. The methodology used focuses mainly on qualitative methods, with particular reference to the role of urban infrastructure, examined both as a method and as a concept. To this end, approaches focused on discursive structures, socio-economic relations and everyday practices will be combined to study the city of Cagliari as a paradigmatic case where numerous formal and informal interactions between local and military actors take place.