Luca Mora

luca mora

Prof Luca Mora

Professor

Biography

Luca is Professor of Urban Innovation at the Business School of Edinburgh Napier University, in which he is leading the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Subject Group. Luca is also Professor of Urban Innovation at Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech), where he is collaborating in delivering the €32 million Horizon 2020 smart city project FinEst Twins and the €1.3 million smart city pilot project GreenTwins.

Over the course of his professional career, Luca has committed himself to improving our understanding of urban and regional innovation management in the digital era. His research is multi-disciplinary and connects urban studies and computer science with science, technology and innovation studies. His main research interests include: technology-related urban and regional innovation; sustainable smart urbanism; smart city development projects and strategies; Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3); and strategic planning for smart city transitions and RIS3.

Luca has a sustained track-record of producing high-quality publication outputs and has contributed to generate an overall University income of approximately £16 million through research and consultancy activities, mainly supported by EU funding schemes (EAFRD, 7FP, Horizon 2020).

Esteem

Advisory panels and expert committees or witness

  • Academic Consultant (Urban data Ecosystems), European Commission
  • Academic Consultant (Science, Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Urban Development), United Nations
  • Scientific Committee Member, 4th Euro-Mediterranean Conference and Exhibition (SmartBlueCity 2020) | Athens, Greece
  • Research Associate at University of Liège - Smart City Institute | Liège, Belgium
  • Scientific Committee Member, 3rd International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Planning for Cities and Regions (SSPCR 2019) | Bozen, Italy
  • Academic Advisor (Smart City Policy Development), Zhejiang Provincial Government
  • Academic Board Member at Edinburgh Napier University
  • Member of the European Commission’s Smart Cities and Communities Action Clusters
  • Scientific Committee Member, 3rd Euro-Mediterranean Conference and Exhibition (SmartBlueCity 2018) | Larnaca, Cyprus
  • Scientific Committee Member, 1st Euro-Mediterranean Conference and Exhibition (SmartBlueCity 2016) | Limassol, Cyprus

 

Conference Activity

  • Organiser of the RSA Scotland Annual Conference 2019 | Edinburgh, Scotland
  • Chair of the Track "Thriving Governance and Citizenship in a Smart World" at the 3rd International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Planning for Cities and Regions (SSPCR 2019) | Bozen, Italy
  • Organiser and Co-Chair of the "Circular & Smart Cities Workshop" at European Commission - European Week of Regions and Cities 2018 | Brussels, Belgium
  • Organiser and Chair of "Meet the Innovation Guru - Edinburgh Napier University's Lecture Series on Innovation Management" | Edinburgh, United Kingdom
  • Organiser of the "Online S3 Final Workshop" at European Commission | Brussels, Belgium
  • Organiser and Co-chair of the 2nd Annual International Conference of the Urban Research and Education Knowledge Alliance (U!REKA) | Edinburgh, United Kingdom
  • Organiser of a Discussion Panel on Smart Specialisation at Trinity College Dublin - RSA Annual Conference 2017 | Dublin, Ireland
  • Organiser and Chair of the conference "Smart Culture: ICT and the Enhancement of Cities' Cultural Heritage" | Bologna, Italy
  • Organiser and Chair of the conference "Funding the Smart City: Comparing Alternative Solutions" | Bologna, Italy
  • Organiser of the 7th Summer Workshop of Italian PhD Programmes in Architectural Technology | Mantua, Italy

 

Editorial Activity

  • Guest Editor for the Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal (Emerald, ISSN: 0951-3574) - Special Issue "Accountability for a Connected Society: The Unaccounted Effects of Digital Transformations”, in collaboration with Prof Giuseppe Grossi (Nord University, Norway; Kozminski University, Poland; Kristianstad University, Sweden), Dr Daniela Argento (Kristianstad University, Sweden), Prof Dorota Dobija (Kozminski University, Poland), Dr Mauricio Marrone (Macquarie University, Australia)
  • Lead Guest Editor for Organization Studies (SAGE, ISSN: 0170-8406) - Special Issue "Boosting Urban Sustainability through Organizing Collaborative Ecosystems for Smart City Development", in collaboration with Dr Francesco Paolo Appio (Université Côte d'Azur), Prof Nicolai J. Foss (Copenhagen Business School), Prof David Arellano Gault (Center for Research and Teaching in Economics), Dr Xiaoling Zhang (City University of Hong Kong)
  • Lead Guest Editor for Regional Studies (Taylor & Francis, ISSN: 0034-3404) - Special Issue "Towards a Technology-enabled Approach to Smart Specialisation Development", in collaboration with Dr Anastasia Panori (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), Prof Mark Deakin (Edinburgh Napier University), Prof Raquel Ortega-Argiles (University of Birmingham)
  • Guest Editor for IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management (IEEE, ISSN 0018-9391) - Special Issue "Strategies to reach convergence: A multiple perspectives assessment", in collaboration with Dr Francesco Paolo Appio (Université Côte d'Azur), Dr Sungjoo Lee (Ajou University), Prof Stefanie Bröring (University of Bonn), Dr Nathalie Sick (University of Technology Sydney)
  • Editorial Board Member - Journal of Urban Technology (Routledge, ISSN: 1063-0732)
  • Lead Guest Editor for the Journal of Urban Technology (Routledge, ISSN: 1063-0732) - Special Issue "Smart city Development as an ICT-Driven Approach to Urban Sustainability", in collaboration with Prof Mark Deakin (Edinburgh Napier University), Dr Xiaoling Zhang (City University of Hong Kong), Prof Michael Batty (University College London), Prof Martin de Jong (Delft University of Technology), Dr Paolo Santi (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Dr Francesco Paolo Appio (Université Côte d'Azur)
  • Associate Editor - IET Smart Cities (Institution of Engineering and Technology)
  • Guest Editor for the International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal (Springer, ISSN: 1554-7191) - Special Issue "The Strategic, Organizational, and Entrepreneurial Evolution of Smart Cities", in collaboration with Dr Francesco Schiavone (Parthenope University of Naples), Dr Francesco Paolo Appio (Université Côte d'Azur)

 

External Examining/Validations

  • External examiner of research degrees for Erasmus University Rotterdam

 

Fellowships and Awards

  • Leadership Excellence Award (Nominated) - Edinburgh Napier University, Above & Beyond Awards 2020-21
  • Research and Innovation Award (Winner) - Edinburgh Napier University, Above & Beyond Awards 2020-21
  • Partnership Award (Nominated) - Edinburgh Napier University, Above & Beyond Awards 2019-20
  • Leadership Excellence Award (Nominated) - Edinburgh Napier University, Above & Beyond Awards 2019-20
  • Research and Innovation Award (Winner) - Edinburgh Napier University, Above & Beyond Awards 2019-20
  • Enterprise Award (Winner) - Edinburgh Napier University, Above & Beyond Awards 2018-19
  • Partnership Award (Shortlisted) - Edinburgh Napier University, Above & Beyond Awards 2017-18
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
  • Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA)
  • Best Dissertation Award (Winner) - Polytechnic University of Milan

 

Grant Funding Panel Member

  • Grant Funding Panel Member for the High North and Arctic Smart City Development Competition 2020 | Nord University, Norway

 

Grant Reviewer

  • Grant Reviewer for the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)
  • Grant Reviewer for UKRI - Economic and Social Research Council
  • Grant Reviewer for the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Italian Switzerland
  • Grant Reviewer for the French National Research Agency

 

Invited Speaker

  • Invited Keynote Speaker at 17th International Conference on CUPUM - Computational Urban Planning and Urban Management | Helsinki, Finland
  • Invited Keynote Speaker at Smart City Research Seminar of University of Liège - Smart City Institute | Liège, Belgium
  • Invited Keynote Speaker at High North Dialogue 2020 | Bodø, Norway
  • Invited Speaker at 36th EGOS Colloquium - Organizing for a Sustainable Future: Responsibility, Renewal, and Resistance | Hamburg, Germany
  • Invited Keynote Speaker at 56th ISOCARP World Planning Congress - Post-Oil City: Planning for Urban Green Deals | Doha, Qatar
  • Invited Speaker at 32nd SASE Annual Meeting - Development Today: Accumulation, Surveillance, Redistribution | Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Invited Keynote Speaker at RSA Edinburgh Area: Shaping New Places Through the Human-Centred Smart City | Edinburgh, UK
  • Invited Keynote Speaker at Kristianstad University - GRIP Seminar Series | Kristianstad, Sweden
  • Invited Speaker at the China-UK Bilateral Workshop organised by University of Cambridge and Huazhong University of Science Technology | Wuhan, China
  • Invited Keynote Speaker at Nordic Smart Cities 2018 | Malmo, Sweden
  • Invited Keynote Speaker at The University of Edinburgh - New Thinking Group (NTG) Interdisciplinary Seminar Series | Edinburgh, United Kingdom
  • Invited Speaker at University of Exeter - Future Cities Research Directions Workshop | Exeter, United Kingdom
  • Invited Speaker at the 27th International Scientific Conference on Economic and Social Development | Rome, Italy
  • Invited Speaker at the 10th International Conference for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Regional Development | Thessaloniki, Greece
  • Invited Speaker at the RSA Annual Conference 2017 | Dublin, Ireland
  • Invited Speaker at the 3rd Conference of the RSA Research Network on Smart City-Regional Governance for Sustainability | Gdansk, Poland
  • Invited Speaker at the 2nd International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Planning for Cities and Regions | Bozen, Italy
  • Invited Keynote Speaker at Innovation Day | Pisa, Italy
  • Invited Speaker at the 1st International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Planning for Cities and Regions | Bozen, Italy
  • Invited Speaker at the 1st International City Regeneration Congress | Tampere, Finland
  • Invited Speaker at the Smart City Exhibition 2013 | Bologna, Italy
  • Invited Speaker at RSA Winter Conference 2012 | London, United Kingdom
  • Invited Speaker at International Conference Artists in Industry: The Role of Design in the Digital Age | Bucharest, Romania

 

Media Activity

  • Magazine article: Collaboration crucial to increase offsite adoption | Project Scotland
  • News: Smart city innovation expert joins €32m international research project | Edinburgh Napier University News
  • News: Edinburgh-based expert in smart city innovation joins €32 million international research project | Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce
  • News: Dr Luca Mora collaborates with Zhejiang provincial government | Edinburgh Napier University News
  • Magazine article: Developing smart and sustainable cities | The Red Triangle, Edinburgh Napier University
  • News: Luca Mora, Visiting Professor: “As a researcher, mobility is part of the game” | EMLV Paris
  • News: Prof Mark Deakin and Dr Luca Mora complete the U!REKA bibliometric analysis | Urban Research and Education Knowledge Alliance (U!REKA) News

 

Membership of Professional Body

  • Member of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI)
  • Member of the International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP)
  • Member of the Regional Studies Association (RSA)

 

Public/Community Engagement

  • Invited by University of Cambridge to collaborate in delivering a China-UK bilateral workshop | Wuhan, China

 

Reviewing

  • Reviewer for International Journal of Urban Sciences (Taylor & Francis, ISSN 1226-5934)
  • Reviewer for Journal of Contemporary European Studies (Taylor & Francis, ISSN 1478-2804)
  • Reviewer for International Review of Administrative Sciences (SAGE, ISSN 0020-8523)
  • Reviewer for Government Information Quarterly (Elsevier, ISSN: 0740-624X)
  • Reviewer for Futures (Elsevier, ISSN: 0016-3287)
  • Reviewer for Environment, Development and Sustainability (Springer, ISSN: 1573-2975)
  • Reviewer for Environmental Development (Elsevier, ISSN: 2211-4645)
  • Reviewer for IEEE Internet of Things Journal (IEEE, ISSN: 2327-4662)
  • Book proposal reviewer for Routledge
  • Reviewer for Discover Sustainability (Springer, ISSN: 2662-9984)
  • Reviewer for New Media & Society (Sage, ISSN: 1461-4448)
  • Reviewer for Annals of the American Association of Geographers (Taylor & Francis, ISSN 2469-4452)
  • Reviewer for Sustainable Cities and Society (Elsevier, ISSN: 2210-6707)
  • Reviewer for Public Management Review (Taylor & Francis, ISSN: 1471-9037)
  • Reviewer for IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management (IEEE, ISSN: 0018-9391)
  • Book proposal reviewer for Oxford University Press
  • Reviewer for The Canadian Geographer (Taylor & Francis, ISSN: 0008-3658)
  • Reviewer for Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science (Sage, ISSN: 2399-8083)
  • Reviewer for European Planning Studies (Taylor & Francis, ISSN: 0965-4313)
  • Reviewer for Urban Studies (Sage, ISSN: 0042-0980)
  • Reviewer for Nature Communications (Springer Nature Publishing AG, ISSN: 2041-1723)
  • Book proposal reviewer for Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd
  • Reviewer for Journal of Intellectual Capital (Emerald, ISSN 1469-1930)
  • Reviewer for Urban Research & Practice (Taylor & Francis, ISSN: 1753-5069)
  • Reviewer for World Development (Elsevier, ISSN: 0305-750X)
  • Reviewer for Journal of Cleaner Production (Elsevier, ISSN: 0959-6526)
  • Book proposal reviewer for Elsevier (Book Series on Smart Cities)
  • Reviewer for Technological Forecasting and Social Change (Elsevier, ISSN: 0040-1625)
  • Reviewer for Regional Studies (Taylor & Francis, ISSN: 1360-0591)
  • Reviewer for Scienze Regionali: The Italian Journal of Regional Science (Il Mulino, ISSN: 1720-3929)
  • Reviewer for Sensors (MDPI, ISSN: 1424-8220)
  • Reviewer for Sustainability (MDPI, ISSN: 2071-1050)
  • Reviewer for Journal of Smart Cities (Whioce Publishing, ISSN: 2382-6401)
  • Reviewer for Journal of Knowledge Economy (Springer, ISSN: 1868-7865)
  • Reviewer for Building and Environment (Elsevier, ISSN: 0360-1323)
  • Reviewer for Cities (Elsevier, ISSN: 0264-2751)
  • Reviewer for Journal of Urban Technology (Routledge, ISSN: 1063-0732)
  • Reviewer for Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research (Universidad de Talca, ISSN: 0718-1876)
  • Reviewer for International Journal of Electronic Governance (Inderscience, ISSN: 1742-7517)
  • Reviewer for European Journal of Innovation Management (Emerald, ISSN: 1460-1060)

 

Visiting Positions

  • Visiting Professor at Pôle Universitaire Léonard de Vinci, École de Management Léonard de Vinci | Paris, France
  • Visiting Research Fellow at Edinburgh Napier University, School of Engineering and the Built Environment, Centre for Smart Cities | Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
  • Visiting Researcher at Aristotle Univeristy of Thessaloniki, Urban and Regional Innovation Research (URENIO) | Thessaloniki, Greece

 

Date


35 results

One Size Does Not Fit All: Framing Smart City Policy Narratives within Regional Socio-Economic Contexts in Brussels and Wallonia

Journal Article
Esposito, G., Clement, J., Mora, L., & Crutzen, N. (2021)
One Size Does Not Fit All: Framing Smart City Policy Narratives within Regional Socio-Economic Contexts in Brussels and Wallonia. Cities, 118, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2021.103329
Smart city initiatives are increasingly dominating urban policy scripts worldwide, and their diffusion is centered upon different regional strategies. Adopting the Narrative P...

Not everything is as it seems: digital technology affordance, pandemic control, and the mediating role of sociomaterial arrangements

Journal Article
Mora, L., Kummitha, R. K. R., & Esposito, G. (in press)
Not everything is as it seems: digital technology affordance, pandemic control, and the mediating role of sociomaterial arrangements. Government Information Quarterly, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2021.101599
An overly favorable narrative has developed around the role played by digital technologies in containing Covid-19, which oversimplifies the complexity of technology adoption. ...

Towards High Impact Smart Cities: a Universal Architecture Based on Connected Intelligence Spaces

Journal Article
Komninos, N., Kakderi, C., Mora, L., Panori, A., & Sefertzi, E. (in press)
Towards High Impact Smart Cities: a Universal Architecture Based on Connected Intelligence Spaces. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-021-00767-0
Smart cities constitute a new urban paradigm and a hegemonic phenomenon in contemporary city development. The concept envisages a data-enhanced future and efficiency gains mad...

Smart cities: the metrics of future internet-based developments and the renewable energies of urban and regional innovation

Journal Article
Deakin, M., Reid, A., & Mora, L. (2020)
Smart cities: the metrics of future internet-based developments and the renewable energies of urban and regional innovation. Journal of Urban Technology, 27(4), 59-78. https://doi.org/10.1080/10630732.2020.1868738
This paper closes a gap in the literature on smart cities relating to the metrics of future Internet-based developments. It achieves this by presenting the findings of a case ...

Assembling Sustainable Smart City Transitions: An Interdisciplinary Theoretical Perspective

Journal Article
Mora, L., Deakin, M., Zhang, X., Batty, M., de Jong, M., Santi, P., & Appio, F. P. (2021)
Assembling Sustainable Smart City Transitions: An Interdisciplinary Theoretical Perspective. Journal of Urban Technology, 28(1-2), 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1080/10630732.2020.1834831
This Special Issue begins with a middle-range theory of sustainable smart city transitions, which forms bridges between theorizing in smart city development studies and some o...

Strategic Planning for Smart City Development: Assessing Spatial Inequalities in the Basic Service Provision of Metropolitan Cities

Journal Article
Du, M., Zhang, X., & Mora, L. (2021)
Strategic Planning for Smart City Development: Assessing Spatial Inequalities in the Basic Service Provision of Metropolitan Cities. Journal of Urban Technology, 28(1-2), 115-134. https://doi.org/10.1080/10630732.2020.1803715
Spatial inequality in basic service provision is a key challenge for smart city development strategies. With a focus on walkable accessibility, this paper proposes a new metho...

Mind the Gap: Developments in Autonomous Driving Research and the Sustainability Challenge

Journal Article
Mora, L., Wu, X., & Panori, A. (2020)
Mind the Gap: Developments in Autonomous Driving Research and the Sustainability Challenge. Journal of Cleaner Production, 275, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124087
Scientific knowledge on autonomous-driving technology is expanding at a faster-than-ever pace. As a result, the likelihood of incurring information overload is particularly no...

The strategic, organizational, and entrepreneurial evolution of smart cities

Journal Article
Schiavone, F., Appio, F. P., Mora, L., & Risitano, M. (2020)
The strategic, organizational, and entrepreneurial evolution of smart cities. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 16, 1155–1165 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-020-00696-5
This present editorial illustrates the recent evolution of strategy, organization and entrepreneurship in smart city. Referring to strategy, integrated smart city strategies a...

Smart Systems of Innovation for Smart Places: Challenges in Deploying Digital Platforms for Co-Creation and Data-Intelligence

Journal Article
Panori, A., Kakderi, C., Komninos, N., Fellnhofer, K., Reid, A., & Mora, L. (in press)
Smart Systems of Innovation for Smart Places: Challenges in Deploying Digital Platforms for Co-Creation and Data-Intelligence. Land Use Policy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104631
The effect of digital transformation towards more efficient, place-based and bottom-up innovation policies at different spatial scales has proven significant, as digital techn...

Increasing offsite housing construction in Scotland: An evidence base to support new policy and systems

Report
Mora, L., Deakin, M., Reid, A., Hairstans, R., Duncheva, M., Calcagno, C., …Lang, V. (2020)
Increasing offsite housing construction in Scotland: An evidence base to support new policy and systems. Construction Scotland Innovation Centre, Scottish Enterprise. and the Scottish Government
The purpose of this project is to provide evidence of the potential contribution offsite construction offers to address the challenges faced by the affordable housing sector i...

Pre-Napier Funded Projects

  • GreenTwins | Period: 2021-23 | Funder: European Commission - Horizon 2020; Estonian Government | Overall value: €1,300,000 | Role: Co-Investigator
  • Organizing Collaborative Ecosystems for Sustainable Smart City Transitions | Period: 2021-25 | Funder: European Commission - Horizon 2020; Estonian Government | Overall value: €65,000 | Role: Principal Investigator
  • The unfolding, assemblage, and governance mechanisms of sustainable smart city transitions | Period: 2021-25 | Funder: European Commission - Horizon 2020; Estonian Government | Overall value: €65,000 | Role: Principal Investigator
  • FinEst Twins | Period: 2019-26 | Funder: European Commission - Horizon 2020; Estonian Government | Overall value: €32,000,000 | Role: Co-Investigator
  • RESTART (Roadmap for European Smart City Strategies) | Period: 2016-17 |Funder: Banca del Monte di Lombardia Foundation - Early Career Research Grant Scheme | Overall value: £28,000 | Role: Principal Investigator and Project Manager
  • MA-IN (Mantua Innovation Center) | Period: 2014-16 | Funder: Cariverona Foundation | Overall value: £50,000 | Role: Co-Investigator and Project Manager
  • Census of the Oglio Po Region’s Landscape Heritage | Period: 2013-14 | Funder: European Commission - EAFRD | Overall value: £60,000 | Role: Co-Investigator
  • PEOPLE | Period: 2012-13 | Funder: European Commission - 7th Framework Programme | Overall value: £3,200,000 | Role: Co-Investigator

Current Post Grad projects

Previous Post Grad projects

Non-Napier PhD or MSc by Research supervisions

  • Director of Studies: Sara Thabit, Organizing Collaborative Ecosystems for Sustainable Smart City Transitions, PhD Degree, Tallinn University of Technology (Expected award year: 2025)
  • External Supervisor: Mie Weile, Bridging for the future: how digital competence development can accelerate innovation in public organizations, PhD Degree, Technical University of Denmark (Expected award year: 2024)
  • External supervisor: Rabia Tabbassum, Ambiguities in Measuring and Visualizing Performance in Nordic Smart Cities, PhD Degree, Nord University (Expected award year: 2022)
  • External supervisor: Xinyi Wu, Social Anthropology and Smart Cities, PhD Degree, The University of Edinburgh (Expected award year: 2022)