Thomas Machiels holds a master’s degree in history (2016) and urban design and planning (2018) from the University of Antwerp. He spent his last semester at City University of Hong Kong (2018).
Thomas started in 2018 as a researcher at the research group. He was a visiting researcher at the University of Michigan (Oct 2021-Mar 2022), where he collaborated with Prof. Robert Goodspeed. In 2023, he obtained his PhD in Urbanism and Spatial Planning with the title Real options for real urban projects: Uncertainty and adaptive planning in complex spatial projects
From September 2023 until October 2024, Thomas worked as a postdoc and project leader on the European Horizon project CLIMATEFIT to lead work package 1 and to conduct research about alternative financing instruments for climate adaptation projects. Since October 2024, Thomas is research leader (postdoc) of the FWO-SBO InnoFiNS, investigating the implementation of innovative financing for nature-based solutions in Flemish cities.
Thomas is also a member of the GECORO in Hasselt since September 2020 (municipal commission for spatial planning).
For more: Google Scholar, LinkedIn
Favorite (place in the) city
Hong Kong.
A two-faced city, where east meets west, where space is scarce and every square inch counts, where life never stops. From the everlasting crowd between the uncountable skyscrapers ‘till the complete silence of the beautiful nature surrounding the city, after every corner a new discovery. More than ever a scene of tensions between its promised autonomy and China’s tightening grip.