Patria joined the Department of CMCI in 2021 as a Senior Lecturer in Culture, Media & Creative Industries (Innovations in Research). She previously taught at Loughborough University, City University London, and the University of Puerto Rico.

Patria is an interdisciplinary researcher with an interest in urban communication, migrant and ethnic economies, and urban regeneration. She is passionate about equality, social and spatial justice and has put race in the agenda for gentrification research.

Her current research interrogates the impact of urban regeneration and urban planning policy frameworks for London's migrant and ethnic economies; and community-led responses to equality, diversity and inclusion in the creative sector.

Patria is the author of The Making of Latin London: Salsa Music, Place and Identity (1999, e-book 2017), and co-author of Narratives of Migration, Relocation and Belonging: Latin Americans in London (2020).

She is the founding Chair of Latin Elephant, a charity that works with migrant and ethnic groups to increase participation in processes of urban change in London.

Research interests and PhD supervision

I am interested in gentrification research and its impact on migrant and ethnic groups. I am passionate about social and spatial justice and look forward to supervise students in the following areas:

• Migration, place and identity
• Urban communication research
• Latin American migration to the UK and Europe
• Gentrification research

Teaching

Patria teaches in the fields of cities, migration and gentrification, precarious labour conditions in the creative industries, participatory research methodologies, and cultural memories.

Expertise and public engagement

Patria is founder and Chair of Trustees at Latin Elephant, a Charity that is working to increase engagement, participation and inclusion of migrant and ethnic groups in processes of urban change in London. Her research has been translated into a tangible programme for migrant and ethnic groups that furthers positive societal changes. Her policy intervention in the London Plan consultation (2015) led to changes in favour of the inclusion of migrant and ethnic economies.

Latin Elephant has been chosen as a positive case study for the inclusion of migrant and ethnic groups in a report by Town and Country Planning Association: London – Planning for a Just City? And Shaping London’s Town Centres by Centre for London.

Patria has an established track record in fundraising for impact related activities. Recent examples include working with South London Gallery’s Youth Collective the Art Assassins in the production of the podcast: Galleries, get it together supported by a British Academy Innovation Fellowship.

Patria is called as expert witness in policy forums, including: London Assembly Economy Committee (GLA) – Evidence on Small Migrant and Ethnic Businesses, later published in the report: Helping SME’s to Thrive; Southwark Council’s Brexit Task Force Panel, later published in the report: Southwark’s Brexit Panel Report.

Patria is often invited to specialist talks at numerous national and international universities, external public bodies, charities and grassroots groups on the topic of spatial justice and gentrification; and has over 80 media appearances in international, national and local ethnic media outlets, including: CNN, NTN24, BBC London News, London Live, The Economist, SE1 and interviewed in numerous academic and community podcasts.

Selected publications

Recent publications:

Galleries, Get It Together. Community-led responses to EDI in the creative sector (2024). King’s College London, The British Academy and South London Gallery.

Resisting gentrification, reclaiming urban spaces: Latin urbanisms in London (2022), Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability, DOI: 10.1080/17549175.2022.2071967

Narratives of migration, relocation and belonging: Latin Americans in London (2020). London & NY: Palgrave McMillan (Co-authored with Jessica Retis).

Migrant and Ethnic Economies in Times of Crisis: Displacement, Brexit, COVID and Cost of Living (2023). London: Latin Elephant, Urban Health. (Co-authored with S. Goldzweig, M. Machado López, S. Peluffo Soneyra, N. Pérez, S. Wall).

Latin Americans in London: Digital diasporas and social activisms (2023). Chapter 6 in D Dalton and D Ramírez Plascencia (Eds). Imagining Latinidad: Digital Diasporas and Public Engagement Among Latin American Migrants. Boston: Brill Critical Latin America Series, pp 100-18. (Co-authored with J. Retis). DOI: 10.1163/9789004519671_007

Claiming a place in the global city: Urban regeneration and Latin American spaces in London (2014). Political Economy of Technology, Information & Culture Journal (EPTIC), Special Issue: City, architecture, culture and financial systems, Brazil (16)1: 68-83.

The Making of Latin London: Salsa Music, Place and Identity (2017). E-book published by Routledge, London. Originally published in 1999 by Ashgate, England.

Journal articles:

'Claiming a place in the global city: Urban regeneration and Latin American spaces in London' (2014). Political Economy of Technology, Information & Culture Journal (EPTIC), Special Issue: City, architecture, culture and financial systems, Brazil (16)1: 68-83.

'Latin American Urban Cultural Studies: Unique texts, ordinary cities' (2011). Westminster Papers in Communication & Culture, Special Issue: Re-visiting Latin American Cultural and Media Studies (1): 131-153. (Co-authored with A Garcia-Vargas).

Book sections:

'Latin Americans in London: Mapping digital diasporas' (2021). In D. Dalton and D. Ramírez Plascencia (Eds). Imagining Latinidad: Digital Diasporas and Public Engagement Among Latin American Migrants. Boston: Brill Critical Latin America Series. (Co-authored with Jessica Retis).

'Latin Americans in London: Claims over the identity of place as destination' (2014). In R. Campos & C. Sarmento (Eds). Popular & Visual Culture: Contexts of Design, Circulation and Consumption. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp20-38.

Reports:

Supporting migrant and ethnic economies through regeneration in London: Lessons from community research, activism and campaigning with Latin Elephant (2021). London: Latin Elephant and King’s College London. (Co-authored with C. McIlwaine, S. Peluffo, N. Perez).