Clara Irazábal

About Clara Irazábal

I am the Urban Studies and Planning Program Director at the University of Maryland, College Park. I worked at the University of Missouri, Columbia University, and the University of Southern California. My research focuses on culture, politics, and placemaking to enhance socio-spatial justice in Latin American and US Latinx communities.

Areas of Expertise

Anti-racism Planning, Community Development, Housing, International Development Planning

Selected Publications

PUBLICATIONS 2025-26

Irazábal, C., Alvarez, N. and E. Aparicio. "A Trauma-Informed Planning Framework (TIPF) for Immigrant Belonging." Journal of the American Planning Association (JAPA), 2026, 1-22.

Irazabal, C. “Transbordering Illegalized Development: The Secret Lives of Global Urbanisms.” Book Review Forum on Jennifer Tucker’s book: Outlaw Capital: Everyday Illegalities and the Making of Uneven Development. Dialogues in Human Geography 1-4, 2025.

Irazábal, C. Book Review, Urban Labyrinths: Informal Settlements, Architecture, and Social Change in Latin America, by P. Meninato and G. Marinic, 2024. (Routledge, London and New York). Journal of Urban Design, 2025.

Irazábal, C. Foreword III. In Raven J, Leone MF, Bhaduri S, et al. Planning, Urban Design, and Architecture for Climate Action. Third Assessment Report on Climate Change and Cities (ARC3.3). Published in collaboration with the Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN). Cambridge University Press, 2025, 10-11.

Irazábal, C., B. Andrews, J.M. Braxton, M. Gross. “Decolonizing Planning Studio Pedagogy: Grappling with Tensions and Dissonances.” In B. Sletto, T. Winkle, and E. Huq (eds.), Decolonizing Planning: Process and Knowledge in the Informal City. Decolonizing Research Series. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2025.

Letelier Troncoso, F., Irazábal, C., Cubillos Almendra, J. and Sepúlveda Salazar, M. (2025), Care Infrastructures in Chile During the Pandemic: Communitarian Weavings, Spaces and the Production of Common Goods. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 49: 929-947.

Carpio, G., Irazábal, C., and L. Pulido. “The Right to the Suburb? Rethinking Lefebvre and Immigrant Activism.” Journal of Urban Affairs 33(2), 2011, 185-208. Re-issued in “Collections” from Journal of Urban Affairs: “The Right to the City: Prospects and Provocations from the Journals of the Urban Affairs Association,” Journal of Urban Affairs, 2025, J-P. D. Addie, ed.

Recent Courses Taught

URSP 708: Community Planning Studio, URSP 709: Field Instruction