My name is Beatriz Stambuk-Torres, and I am a dedicated scholar and researcher focused on supporting international efforts to keep land, housing, and urban spaces accessible to all. I have taught over 250 elected representatives, housing professionals, students, and public servants worldwide on Vienna’s housing, transportation, and urban planning models, as well as on land management, democratic decision making structures, cooperative housing development.

I am a PhD candidate at TU Wien´s Urban Planning Department, and study international housing systems to scale non-market housing, and a doctorate member at The Center for New Social Housing TU Wien 2026 cohort. I hold a graduate degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley, and have worked for many years as a researcher, housing advocate, and consultant for the public sector on affordable housing programs in California. Since 2024, I have founded the not for profit effort called The Urban Commons and have been leading international educational groups and workshops in Vienna to best understand how social housing principles can be adapted to cities worldwide. My time in Vienna first began as the manager of the Vienna Field Studies Program at the Global Policy Leadership Academy. Additionally, I have co-published reports through a leading housing and city-planning think tank the Terner Center for Housing Inovation at UC Berkeley. My undergraduate degrees were in Environmental Analyst and Intercultural Specialist, and worked for many years as a researcher in these fields.

I hold a certification as a Spanish–English translator, and before becoming an urbanist I pursued a career as a socio-economic and environmental researcher, leading a study in South America supported by the University of California, Davis, and the London School of Economics (LSE). This research was later used as evidence in a human rights case before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Washington, D.C.

I grew up in California and Valencia, Spain, with parents from Spain, Mexico, and Argentina. One of my favorite pastimes is discovering inspiring third spaces and walking through public urban parks with friends. I consider myself an advocate for social housing worldwide. I currently live in a housing cooperative in Vienna, Austria, with frequent trips to Valencia, Spain, and Los Angeles, California.

Education and Certifications:

• Cohort Member, The Center for New Social Housing, TU Wien, 2026
• Doctorat Candidate at Vienna´s Technical University, Spatial Planning, Topic: Translating International Non-Market Housing Systems, 2029
• Master of Arts, Urban and Regional Planning, University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A, 2020
• Bachelor of Arts, Environmental Analysis, Pitzer College, Claremont, U.S.A, 2013
• Bachelor of Arts, International Intercultural Studies, Pitzer College, Claremont, U.S.A 2013
• National Certification for Spanish Interpreting, NBCMI, U.S.A, 2016

Publications and Supportive Research:

• Beyond Cost-Rental: Can Co-Housing (Baugruppen) Work for Ireland’s Middle Class?, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Dublin Ireland Office.
• Apúnt Radio segment on social housing and housing as a human right, Valencia, Spain, Public Radio Station, 2025.
• Los Angeles Vienna Social Housing Reflections Report, Lead Researcher and Writer, The Global Policy Leadership Academy, 2024
• State of California Analysis of land available for affordable housing construction as part of the California Executive order to bulid affordable housing on state owned land, 2019-2022, State of California, U.S.A.
• Recession and Recovery: The Critical Role of Housing Assistance in Promoting Economic Security for Low-Income Households, 2020, University of California Berkeley Terner Center
• The Costs of Affordable Housing Production, 2020, University of California Berkeley Terner Center
• Water access and community vulnerability in Ecuador, a trade-off between hydropower plant and agriculture, lead field researcher, London School of Economics, 2018. Report used as evidence in a legal case at the InterAmerican Commision on Human Rights.