Rafael de Lucena Perini is a professor and researcher at the University of Caxias do Sul (UCS), Brazil, where he teaches at undergraduate and graduate level and is a permanent faculty member of the Professional Master’s Programme in Planning and Management of Sustainable Cities.

He coordinates the distance learning Business Administration programme and is a founding member of CityLivingLab. He holds a PhD in Business Administration from UCS and was a visiting doctoral researcher at Wayne State University in Detroit.

His research centres on knowledge-based development, urban capital systems, territorial innovation, sustainability, and the transition from industrial cities to knowledge cities. He is currently conducting postdoctoral research on international models of urban transformation and collaborative governance.