Jens Aerts is an urban planner with 20 years of experience, working with international development agencies, city governments, developers and non-for-profit organizations on the intersection of urban practice, policy and research. Most recently he has been working for UN-Habitat, UNICEF and the World Bank. He authored UNICEF’s recent publication ‘Shaping urbanization for children’ and supported the agency in program implementation of its Global Urban Strategy, including training and technical assistance on child rights and urban planning with regional and country offices (Dominican Republic, EAPRO, LACRO, Paraguay, Philippines, South-Africa, UAE). He has contributed to various articles, technical reports and guides linking urban health, road safety, community design and urban development, such as the new Street for Kids program of the Global Designing Cities Initiative.

Jens is an associate partner at BUUR – Bureau for Urbanism, specialized in sustainable urban development programs and policies, such as neighborhood upgrading, green mobility planning, circular economy and place-making. Before that he assisted both Governments of the Flemish and the Brussels Region to build urban planning capacity in public agencies and to direct community led planning processes and key public space interventions.

He holds a MSc in Civil Engineering and Architecture from the University of Leuven (Belgium) and obtained his MA Urban Planning at Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya in Barcelona (Spain). He is member of the Board of the Flemish Spatial Planning Organisation (VRP) and the International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP).