Scientific achievements
Dr hab. inż. arch. Małgorzata Hanzl is an urban planner, architect and scholar of urban form. The key stages of her academic development include her PhD (2006, KBN grant) on the use of information technologies in public participation in spatial planning, and research on the morphological analysis of urban structures in a cultural perspective (NCN SONATA 2 project, 2012–2017). The results of these studies formed the basis for her habilitation and for monographs published in 2017 by Lodz University of Technology Press and in 2022 by Routledge as Jewish Culture and Urban Form: A Case Study of Central Poland before the Holocaust. An important international experience was a Fulbright Senior Award fellowship undertaken in 2014 at the Senseable City Laboratory, DUSP, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Research profile and directions
Her research interests include urban morphology, urban design, spatial planning, public space, public participation, walkability, urban green, public health, quality of life and sustainable mobility. In her academic work, she combines an architectural and urban planning perspective with spatial, social, environmental and cultural analyses. She is currently conducting research on the relationships between urban form, walkability, urban greenery, public health, quality of life, climate resilience and sustainable mobility. She is interested in how urban structure, public spaces and nature‑based solutions affect residents’ well‑being, active mobility and transport inequalities. She develops these directions through international publications, participation in the Y‑Move project (ECIU, SEED2) and planned studies on mobility models and the environmental impact of changes in mobility in Łódź and the surrounding region.
Recognition and standing in the academic community
Her academic trajectory is closely linked to planning practice and expert work: between 2007 and 2012, as an urban planner/designer, she contributed to more than 14 local spatial development plans in different regions of Poland, and since 2009 she has provided expert reports in the field of spatial planning. In parallel, she has developed extensive international and organisational activity, including within ISOCARP, where between 2017 and 2020 she served as Vice President / Director for Publications and Chief Editor of three volumes of the Review of World Planning Practice, and within ISUF Poland, where since 2025 she has served as President.