Valentina Orioli (Cesena, 1971), architect and PhD, is associate professor of Urban planning at the Department of Architecture (DA) of the University of Bologna and councilor at the Municipality of Bologna in charge of New mobility, infrastructures, public transport, 30 km/h City, protection of cultural heritage and historical gardens. In the administrative mandate 2016-21 she was councilor in charge for Urban Planning, Real Estate, Environment, Preservation and Renewal of the Historic City, Green Deal and Nomination of I Portici di Bologna to Unesco WHL, and deputy mayor since 2020.
Valentina graduated as an architect at the IUAV in Venice in 1996 and obtained in the same year the professional qualification in Architecture. She became PhD in “Civil and territorial engineering” at the University of Bologna in 2003. In 2005 she became a researcher in the field of Urban planning at the University of Bologna, Dapt, Faculty of Architecture “Aldo Rossi”. She is associate professor at the Department of Architecture since September 2014. In 2023 she obtained the qualification to Full Professor.
Valentina participated in several European research programs; in 2006-07 she participated in the “Culture 2000” program "Architecture and Society of the Holiday Camps. History and perspectives"; in 2017-2020 she participated in H2020 ROCK project; in 2018-2022 in Erasmus Plus ARCHEA project. She recently participated in the research project " Housing shapes: experiences of urban and architectural “remodelage” in social housing districts”, financed by PRIN 2009 program and in the PRIN 2017 project “HPFC - Historic Preservation Foundation Classes: Procedures and ontologies for interoperability in the protection of the historical and architectural heritage” . She published several essays on social housing and second post-war housing districts; on the design of public spaces and infrastructures in the contemporary cities; on the planning tools for urban development and urban regeneration. Valentina carried out researches on the history of seaside districts and their contemporary transformation for many years since 2003. She published many essays concerning these themes and she participated in many International and National Conferences. In 2012 she was the scientific coordinator of the International Symposium “Milano Marittima 100. Landscape and Architecture for seaside tourism”, and she was the editor of the book “Milano Marittima 100. Paesaggi e architetture per il turismo balneare” and the curator of the exhibition “Milano Marittima 100. Le architetture e la città” (with Emanuele Dari). In 2013 she was the editor of the book "Spiagge urbane. Territori e architetture per il turismo balneare in Romagna", together with V. Balducci. Her research interests have progressively focused on the themes of urban regeneration and social innovation practices, as evidenced by the book published with Martina Massari, "Praticare l'urbanistica. Traiettorie fra innovazione sociale e pianificazione" (Franco Angeli 2023).
In Cesena she teaches Elements of Town Planning and she participates in the Final Workshop Urban Design in the single-cycle Degree Course in Architecture. She is the scientific director of CARTA Lab. In Bologna she teaches Urban Policies at the Course of Service Design and she coordinates Structuring the City by Design Lab at the Master Degree in Architecture and Creative Practices for Cities and Landscape. She is responsible for the Erasmus exchanges between the Department of Architecture and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture et de Paysage (ENSAP) in Lille; the ENSA of Nantes; the ENSA de Normandie in Rouen; the ENSA Paris val-de-Seine and the University of the West of England (UWE) in Bristol.
From 2007 to 2016 she has been a member of the supervising team at the doctoral school of Architecture of the University of Bologna. She is a member of the supervising team of the doctoral school of Service Design for Public Sector at Sapienza University in Rome (aa 2023/2024, XXXIX cycle).
She has been a member of the leading committee at the DAPT (2007-10, director Pr Piero Secondini). In 2010-12 she was a member of the "Research Observatory" at the University of Bologna (Panel 08). In 2012-15 she served as deputy director of the Department of Architecture (director Pr Giovanni Leoni). She participated in the “Technical Board of Researchers” of the University of Bologna since its establishment in 2010. In 2009-15 she was the president of the Commission for architectural and landscape quality in the Municipality of Cesenatico. In 2015-2019 she was a member of the Scientific Committee of the Malatestiana Library in Cesena. She is a member of the “Cassa di Risparmio” Foundation in Cesena, of “Leonardo Melandri” Research Center in Forlì, and of the “Società di Studi Romagnoli”.
She participates in the activities of the National Planning Institute (INU), of the Italian Society of Planners (SIU) and of the National Association of Historic Centers (ANCSA). She is currently president of URBAN@IT, a national center for urban studies, founded in Bologna in december 2014 by initiative of University of Bologna, Polytechnic of Milan and Laboratorio Urbano, that associates 16 Universities with the aim of putting in value the expertise in the field of urban policies as a contribution to a new urban policy season in Italy.
