Ramon Marrades is an urban economist, writer, and activist with a passion for people and places. He is currently Director at Placemaking Europe, founder at Vigla – an applied research start-up focused on designing urban futures–, and strategy advisor to a number of cities and large-scale development projects. Before, he has served as the Chief Strategy and Finance Officer at La Marina de València, Valencia’s waterfront redevelopment agency, and a board member of the Worldwide Network of Port Cities (AIVP).
He holds an Executive MSc in Cities from the London School of Economics and Political Science, an MSc in Economics and Geography from Utrecht University, and a BA in Economics from the University of Valencia. He has been a researcher at the University of Valencia (Spain), Western Sydney University (Australia), and FLACSO (Ecuador). He received the Spanish Social Entrepreneur Award in 2012. Ramon is co-editor of the book “Our City? Countering Exclusion in Public Space” (2019) and the host and co-curator of Placemaking Week Europe 2019 and 2022.