María Dolores Pitarch Garrido

Dr. María Dolores Pitarch Garrido is Professor of Human Geography at the University of Valencia. She received an extraordinary doctorate award in 2008 and was the former director of the Inter-University Institute of Local Development between 2018 and 2022. She is currently Delegate of the Rector for the Universitat-Societat Program, which aims to disseminate the university scientific culture throughout the territory. She has been a visiting professor at the Research Center for Nature and Man (Cuba), the University of Trier (Germany), the University of Grenoble (France), the London School of Economics (UK) and Massey University (New Zealand), among others. Dr. Pitarch has participated in research projects funded by the VI, VII Framework Program and Horizon 2020 of the EU, by the Ministry of Science and Innovation and by the regional government. She has carried out consultancy work for different city councils on topics related to geography, in particular on tourism, demography, economics and land use planning.
Her main lines of research are framed within the subdiscipline of Economic Geography, with particular attention to the analysis and territorial impact of economic activities, inequality, social services location, etc. Currently, she is developing research projects on environmental and social sustainability in urban and metropolitan areas, with special interest in the use of quantitative (GIS) and qualitative techniques (surveys and interviews, etc.). In addition, in recent years, she has developed a line of study on the territorial behavior of tertiary activities, with special attention to public services, tourism and unequal development.