Sebastião Santos is a researcher and specialist in territorial development, urban policy, housing, sustainability, and strategic planning, with a professional trajectory that combines scientific research, international project management, public participation, territorial data science, and public sector practice. His work has been developed at the intersection of urbanism, environment, housing, territorial governance, and social innovation, seeking to produce applied knowledge that contributes to the creation of more just, sustainable, and resilient territories.

Holding a degree in Landscape Architecture and a PhD in the Architecture of Contemporary Metropolitan Territories, he began his professional career working on landscape architecture, public space, and spatial planning projects, collaborating with the firms Topiaris and Global Arquitetura Paisagista. He also contributed to the Urban Voids exhibition at the Lisbon Architecture Triennale and was part of the team responsible for producing the video for the E-PICENTRO project, presented at the 2010 Venice Architecture Biennale and dedicated to the reconstruction of the Italian city of L'Aquila following the 2009 earthquake.

In 2010, he completed his master's dissertation, “Signs of Consciousness: The Challenges of Contemporary Reality in the Construction of Landscape”, in which he developed an integrated proposal for the informal settlements of Cova do Vapor and Torrões, on the Costa da Caparica. The project proposed the reorganization of residential clusters, the implementation of infrastructure resilient to sea-level rise, the restoration of dune ecosystems, and the promotion of a local economy based on sustainable activities such as agriculture, fishing, and algae production, combining climate adaptation, ecological regeneration, and social inclusion.

In 2011, he co-founded Associação Chão de Gente, an interdisciplinary platform dedicated to promoting sustainability and public participation in territorial development processes. Within this framework, he coordinated, in partnership with the Tavira Ciência Viva Centre and the Municipality of Tavira, the project “Projecto Rio – A Driver for the Development and Enhancement of Tavira”, integrated into the European platform Places - Cities for Scientific Culture. The project fostered a broad participatory process involving local communities, businesses, associations, and public institutions with the objective of building a shared vision for the sustainable development of the Gilão River territory, from the Serra do Caldeirão to the Ria Formosa. In addition to organizing the Encontros do Rio meetings and thematic conference cycles, he was responsible for project communication through audiovisual production, science communication, media relations, and public outreach.

Between 2012 and 2015, he was a member of the research team of PERIURBAN – Peri-Urban Areas Facing Sustainability Challenges: Scenario Development for the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, developed by DINÂMIA'CET-Iscte in partnership with Instituto Superior Técnico and Instituto Superior de Agronomia. He participated in all stages of the research process, including literature review, documentary analysis, stakeholder interviews, collection and processing of statistical data, multidimensional sustainability assessment, and scenario-building exercises for the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. He was responsible for establishing and managing a permanent stakeholder panel involving public administrations, businesses, civil society organizations, experts, and local communities, ensuring continuous transdisciplinary knowledge production throughout the project. He also coordinated communication and dissemination activities, including website management, newsletters, participatory workshops, and institutional outreach, and contributed to the preparation of the good-practice guide Desafios do Periurbano, published by the Portuguese Directorate-General for Territory.

During this period, he also collaborated on several national and international research projects, most notably the European project VOLANTE – Visions of Land Use Transitions in Europe, where he coordinated national stakeholders and organized workshops on territorial transformations and future land-use scenarios across Europe. He also contributed to the projects The Site of Discourse, FILARQPAIS, Ethical and Political Challenges of Landscape in the Anthropocene, and the proposal for the ARTSBANK project, further strengthening an interdisciplinary research trajectory focused on landscape, territory, sustainability, and culture.

Between 2015 and 2021, he was awarded a doctoral scholarship by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), conducting research on territorial inequalities, urban vulnerability, metropolitan governance, and public policy. During this period, he further developed expertise in spatial analysis, applied statistics, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and mixed research methodologies, while actively participating in scientific projects, higher education teaching activities, conference organization, and knowledge dissemination.

Also in 2015, he undertook a research exchange at the Centre for the Study of Science Policy (CSSP) at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, as part of the European project Crossing Boundaries: Knowledge and Technology Transfer and Innovation, funded through the Marie Curie Actions programme. His research focused on urban informality and the evolution of planning systems within the Delhi Metropolitan Area, involving extensive literature review and interviews with government representatives, research institutions, and civil society organizations.

Alongside his research activities, he acquired teaching experience as a guest lecturer at Iscte and the School of Agriculture of the University of Lisbon, teaching subjects related to governance, landscape ethics and aesthetics, and public policy. He also served on the editorial board of the journal Estudo Prévio and, since 2016, has regularly published opinion and analytical articles in the newspaper Público on housing, territorial inequalities, sustainability, urban development, and public policy.

In 2018, he joined the organizing committee of the Third International Conference of Young Urban Researchers (TICYURB), one of the leading international conferences in urban studies, contributing to both its scientific programme and operational organization.

In 2020, he worked as a consultant for the Urban Futures Global Conference, held within the framework of the European Green Capital programme. In collaboration with Portuguese and Austrian partners, he participated in the design and production of the conference's third day, organizing meetings, study visits, and initiatives showcasing sustainability best practices across the Lisbon Metropolitan Area while fostering exchanges between international participants and local urban change-makers.

Since 2022, he has served as scientific consultant to the data journalism project “The Time Bomb of Abstention”, part of the European Data Journalism Network and led by Divergente. In this role, he is responsible for the methodological design and coordination of statistical and geospatial analyses applied to the study of electoral participation patterns across Europe, in collaboration with researcher Margarida Perestrelo.

In September 2023, he completed his PhD with research focused on territorial asymmetries in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area and their relationship with urban, social, economic, environmental, and institutional vulnerabilities. Through the integration of statistical analysis, georeferenced data, Geographic Information Systems, and qualitative research, he developed one of the most comprehensive mapping exercises of metropolitan inequalities undertaken in Portugal. This included the construction of a georeferenced socio-spatial deprivation index and the identification of areas characterized by the urbanization of poverty, social vulnerability, and urban precarity. The research also addressed processes such as gentrification, deindustrialization, rural abandonment, and territorial fragmentation, situating these dynamics within broader urban policy frameworks, economic agendas, and contemporary governance models.

Between October 2023 and January 2025, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the project CARE(4)HOUSING – Caring for Housing, developed by DINÂMIA'CET-Iscte. The project focused on housing precarity in Portugal, seeking to understand how urban design, planning, and public policy can contribute to improving housing conditions for vulnerable populations. Within this framework, he participated in a feasibility study for the implementation of Portugal’s first Community Land Trust, analysing innovative housing access models and alternative land governance mechanisms aimed at promoting affordable housing. He was also a member of the organizing team of the international conference “Community Land Trust: An Innovative Tool for Access to Housing”, organized in partnership with UN-Habitat.

Between 2025 and 2026, he joined Rés do Chão, a practice specializing in urbanism, architecture, and public participation. In this context, he served as co-manager of the international project “Youth-Centric Mobility and Activity in the 15-Minute City”, funded by the European partnership Driving Urban Transitions (DUT). He was responsible for the management and coordination of technical activities, liaison between national and international partners, funding applications, resource mobilization, and the implementation of participatory methodologies applied to urban planning and youth-oriented sustainable mobility.

Since October 2026, he has worked as a Senior Technical Officer at the Lisbon City Council, within the Green Infrastructure Design and Construction Division of the Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Change. His responsibilities include the development of urban green infrastructure projects, climate adaptation strategies, biodiversity enhancement initiatives, nature-based solutions, and ecological restoration interventions, contributing to the creation of a more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive city.