About
urbana is a Civil Non-Profit Partnership based in Athens, Greece, bringing together architects, urban planners, social scientists, political scientists, and educators. Founded in 2019, we work towards creating cities that are inclusive, participatory, and responsive to the diverse needs of their communities.
We envision cities where every person feels safe, comfortable, and welcomed, with a true sense of belonging in the spaces they live, work, and thrive! Our goal is to create urban environments that are fair, inclusive, and vibrant, where diverse voices shape the future, communities flourish, and people have equal opportunities to participate in decision-making processes that impact their daily lives.
At urbana, we strive to make this vision a reality by ensuring the right to the city for all. Our work focuses on empowering historically underrepresented groups -including women, children, youth, and the elderly- by equipping them with the tools and opportunities to voice their needs, fostering participation in urban planning, and strengthening collaboration between local communities and local authorities.
Team

Eva Grigoriadou is the founding director and research lead of URBANA. She earned her Architecture degree from the Technical University of Crete (TUC) and later completed a postgraduate program in International Cooperation and Sustainable Emergency Architecture at the International University of Catalonia (UIC). Currently, she is a Ph.D. candidate at the Technical University of Crete, where her research centers on gender-sensitive urban planning, inclusive urban design practices, and participatory methodologies.

Evelina Faliagka is an architect and urban planner. She studied at the Department of Architecture of the University of Thessaly (UTH) and then completed the 'Master Urban Design' (M.Sc.) at the Technical University of Berlin (TU Berlin). Her work focuses on the perspective of care and the development of inclusive design scenarios that integrate all actors, human and non-human, who are traditionally excluded from the city. At URBANA she is actively involved in the design and implementation of participatory urban design projects. Her work has been exhibited at the 15th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale, among others, and her texts have been published in Greek and international magazines such as ARCH+.

Ioulia Leventopoulou is an architect and researcher at URBANA. She studied Architecture at the Technical University of Crete (2018) and is currently a postgraduate student of the MSc Urban and Regional Planning at the School of Architecture, NTUA. She has worked with architectural firms and organisations in Athens and Copenhagen. Her research interests focus on the analysis of gender perspectives in urban design, participatory design processes and more generally the integration of a more inclusive perspective in the spaces we design and inhabit.
Our goals
- Integrating a gender perspective into urban planning
- Encouraging community participation in designing their neighborhoods
- Strengthening collaboration between local communities and local authorities
- Creating urban spaces that prioritize inclusivity and accessibility
Our values
Inclusion
Regenerating our cities requires collective effort. At urbana, we foster inclusive environments that empower individuals from diverse backgrounds to express their needs and actively shape the urban landscape.
Participation
For urban interventions to be socially sustainable and impactful, they must emerge from participatory processes. urbana develops interdisciplinary methodologies—blending social and political sciences, architecture, and urban planning—to create meaningful participatory frameworks.
Intersectional Feminism
Women continue to shoulder the majority of care work, with Greek statistics (ELSTAT, 2017) showing they dedicate nearly four times more time to caregiving than men. Traditional urban planning has overlooked these realities, limiting women’s access to economic and social opportunities. A gender-inclusive approach ensures that everyday experiences, particularly those of women and gender minorities, are central to urban design, addressing their specific experiences, needs and desires.
At urbana, we are committed to building cities that are fair, collaborative, and empowering, where everyone feels safe, comfortable, and welcomed, with a true sense of belonging in the spaces they live, work, and thrive!
Collaborators
Dimitra Gavana
Teacher
Ongoing
Eirini Grigoriadou
Architect
Ongoing
Georgia Manousogiannaki
Architect
Ongoing
Olivia Mas Preciado
Social Anthropologist, Internship
Sep 2024 – Feb 2025
Vana Pistoftzian
Environmentalist, Internship
Jun 2024 – Sep 2024
Pinelopi Alexiou
Social Anthropologist
Mar 2023 – Jun 2024
Dimitra Axarli
Political Scientist
Feb 2023 – Aug 2023
Maritina Vlachaki
Social Anthropologist
Feb 2022 – Jun 2023
Eva Stamatiou
Architect
Feb 2022 – May 2022