Juan Luis de las Rivas Sanz (Logroño, 1960) is Full Professor of Urban Planning and Design in the School of Architecture of Valladolid (Spain), and Architect (1984) and PhD in Architecture (1988) for the University of Navarra. He is former Director of both the Instituto Universitario de Urbanística (IUU) and the Urban Planning Department at the University of Valladolid. He has also been visiting professor in the Schools of Architecture of the Politecnico di Milano, the University of Arizona (Tucson), the University of Texas at Austin, in ESAP at Porto –Portugal-, in the Instituto de Urbanismo of Caracas and in the Iberoamericana University of Puebla –México-, and occasionally in other European and Latino-American universities.

He is the author of books as “El espacio como lugar” (1992), “Modos de urbanización y desarrollo sostenible” (2000), “Territorios Inteligentes”, (with A. Vegara, 2004); “Directrices de ordenación de ámbito subregional de Segovia y entorno” (2006); “Atlas de Conjuntos Históricos de Castilla y León” (2009), “Ciudad sobre Ciudad. Interferencias entre pasado y presenta en Europa” (2009), “El Estado de las Ciudades de Castilla y León. Informe” (2010)… He introduces and promotes the translation into Spanish of the McHarg’s classic “Design with Nature” (Barcelona 2000) and also writes articles in specialized journals like “Il ruolo delle Regioni nell’evoluzione dell’urbanistica spagnola” (INU, Roma, 1997); “La Naturaleza en la Ciudad–Región: Paisaje, Artificio y Lugar” (Urbana, Caracas 1999); “Le Canal de Castille. Sa fonctionalité et ses chimères” (Flux, Paris 2000); “Spain” and “La Granja” in the “Encyclopedia of Gardens: History and Design” (Chicago 2001), “Rapporto tra strumenti normativi e successi urbani in Spagna” (Territorio, Milan 2002); “Generadores de nueva urbanidad: los espacios comerciales” (Ciudades, 2007); “A New Architecture for a New City. G.A.T.C.P.A.C. 1923-1939”, (JSAH, Vol. 66, 2007); “Perfiles de una tragedia: la crisis residencial y urbanística española” (2011); “Campus de Valladolid: integración urbanística y movilidad” (Caracas, 2011).

Invited as speaker in seminars and specialized congress, he is member of the journal scientific committees of “Ciudades” (Valladolid), “Bitácora” (Bogotá) and “Territorio” (Milan). His research is oriented to the relationship between Nature and Urban Design rooted in the architectural basis of planning. He has been the director of eleven Doctoral Thesis –PhD.

He uses to work for regional and local authorities as consultant in planning, leading the IUU_Lab, a research group in spatial planning and urban design, working for several cities and urban regions (cities as Burgos, Ponferrada and Zamora; Spanish Regions as Castilla y León, Asturias or Extremadura) and also working for Spanish Ministries and Regional Governments in projects related with innovation in sustainable urban and regional planning. The more recent works are the Management Plan for the Historical City of Salamanca (UNESCO WHS), the Regional Plan for Urban Regeneration of Castilla y León, the sustainable mobility plan for the University of Valladolid, the new urban village of Garafía, in La Palma Island, or his work as member of the Technical Advisory Committee, 2010 Dubai International Award –UN/Habitat Human Settlements Program. Today he is the director of the new Master Plan for Valladolid and consultant for the change in local government structure in his Region.

In 2002 his work “Directrices de Ordenación Territorial de Valladolid y Entorno” –urban guidelines for the metropolitan area- obtains the 4th European Urban and Regional Planning Award, from the European Council of Town Planners -ECTP. Other of his planning works –two postwar neighborhoods urban regeneration- obtains the mention in the Gubbio International Prize, 2003.