Ettore Santi is an Assistant Professor with a joint appointment in the School of Architecture and in the Department of Cultures, Societies, and Global Studies. Ettore’s scholarship bridges urban studies with debates in rural geography, agrarian political ecology, and the environmental humanities.
His current book project “Environments of National Security: The Geostrategic Redesign of Rural China” offers an ethnographic account of how architects, planners, and state experts are redesigning China’s rural villages into agribusiness spaces for national food security. This project received support from the Mellon Foundation and the Luce Foundation at the American Council of Learned Societies, the Mellon Foundation at the Social Sciences Research Council, the Graham Foundation, and China’s National Science Foundation.
Ettore’s writings appeared in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Dialogues in Human Geography, Planning Theory, and the Sociological Review, among others. He is currently serving as a guest editor for the journal Urban Design International.
Ettore holds a Ph.D. in Architectural History and Theory from UC Berkeley, a M.Arch from Tongji University of Shanghai and a M.Arch from Polytechnic University of Milan. He has worked as a designer, consultant, curator, and educator in China, Italy, and the United States.
Research/Publication Highlights
Books:
- Santi, Ettore. Designing the Valley. Urban Design in Rural California., UC Berkeley, 2023
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles (select):
- Santi, Ettore, 2026. “State-led Ruralization and its Urban Entanglements: Agribusiness Land Transfers in Rural China.” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research.
- Santi, Ettore, and Ethan Matthews. 2026 “Ruralization as Decolonization. Land, Property and Possibilities in Rural New England.” Dialogues in Human Geography.
- Francesca Piazzoni, Jocelyn Poe, and Ettore Santi, 2024. “What Design for Urban Design Justice?,” Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability.
Essays (Select):
- Santi, Ettore. 2024. “Caring for Place. Community Development in Rural England,” Planning Theory.
- Santi, Ettore. 2022. “Redesigning the Rural. System Thinking and China’s Agrarian Modernization” in Platform, a digital forum for conversations about buildings, spaces, and landscapes.
- Santi, Ettore. 2020. “Yet Another Land Revolution” in Luigi Tomba and Oliver Krischer (eds.) Shades of Green, Made in China Journal, 20–25, Sydney University Press.
Book Chapters:
- 2022 Woodoworth, M., Xuefei Ren, Jesse Rodenbiker, Ettore Santi, Yining Tan, Li Zhang, Yu Zhou, “Researching China during COVID-19 Pandemic,” in Stanley Brunn (ed.), COVID-19 and an Emerging World of Ad Hoc Geographies, Springer (In Press, 2022)
Editorial Work (select):
- Piazzoni, Francesca and Ettore Santi, eds. “Countermapping for Urban Design,” Urban Design International (In Press, 2026)
- Santi, Ettore and Xuan Chen, eds. “The City and the Environmental Humanities,” Urban Planning International (In Press, 2026)
Departments
Architecture
Education
- Ph.D., UC Berkeley, Architecture (History, Theory, and Society)
- M.Arch., Tongji University, Shanghai
- M.Arch., Polytechnic Institute of Milan
Awards
- ACLS / Andrew W. Mellon Foundation – Dissertation Completion Fellowship, American Council of Learned Societies
- SSRC / Andrew W. Mellon Foundation – International Dissertation Research Fellowship, Social Sciences Research Council
- ACLS / Henry Luce Foundation – Pre-Dissertation Summer Research Grant in China Studies, American Council of Learned Societies
- Graham Foundation – Carter Manny Award Citation of Special Recognition
- China National Natural Science Foundation – Research Fund (Co-P.I.)
- John L. Simpson Memorial Research Fellowship in International and Comparative Studies, UC Berkeley’s Institute of International Studies
- Pamela and Kenneth Fong Graduate Student Fellowships, UC Berkeley’s Center for Chinese Studies
- Spiro Kostof Grant in Architectural History, UC Berkeley
Research Focus
- Urban Studies
- Urban Design
- Political Ecology
- Rural Studies
- China
Courses Taught
- Designing the Rural
- Theories of Architecture and Urbanism
- The Environment in Asia and the World
- What is the Environment?
- Architecture, Infrastructure, and the City
