Description:Carlos Palacios is the founder of Estudio Nómada, the architecture and design studio responsible for the concept and execution of thePuente de Colores project. Palacios and his team led the effort to transform the underpass beneath the M-40 ring road in Madrid into a vibrant public space with colorful murals, gardens, and interactive elements. The project resulted from the collaboration between Estudio Nómada, the Madrid City Council, and local residents, with Palacios playing a significant role in the project's design and realization.

Description:David Harvey (b. 1935) is an influential urban theorist, and the world’s most widely cited geographer. He is a distinguished professor of anthropology at the City University of New York, and was formerly a professor of geography at Johns Hopkins, as well as Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography at Oxford. Since earning a BA (1957), MA, and PhD (1962) at Cambridge, Harvey has been a central figure in every major transformation of geography’s philosophy, methodology, and politics. As the “spatial turn” became more influential across the social sciences and humanities, Harvey became a leading interdisciplinary theorist of how urbanization brings together a multitude of diverse economic, sociocultural, and natural processes. Capitalist production is urbanizing.

Description:Doris Kearns Goodwin is a well-known American biographer, historian, and political commentator. She has written extensively on U.S. presidents and their administrations, including Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson. Goodwin has also contributed to public understanding of history through her books and appearances in the media.

Description:Eric Foner is a prominent American historian focusing on the history of the United States, particularly the Civil War, Reconstruction, and slavery. His works explore themes of social justice, equality, and civil rights. Foner's contributions to public understanding of history have been significant through his numerous publications and lectures.

Description:An urban planner and founder of 8 80 Cities, Penalosa believes that cities should be designed for both an 8-year-old and an 80-year-old to ensure accessibility for all ages. He promotes public spaces, pedestrian-friendly streets, and green infrastructure.

Description:Henri Lefebvre was a French Marxist philosopher and sociologist, best known for pioneering the critique of everyday life, for introducing the concepts of the right to the city and the production of social space, and for his work on dialectical materialism, alienation.

Description:German sculptor, artist, landscape architect, and interdisciplinary urban planner. He founded the firm Atelier Dresiseitl in 1980 with a vision to develop liveable cities inspired by a deep understanding of water.

Description:Homi Jehangir Bhabha, FRS was an Indian nuclear physicist who is widely credited as the "father of the Indian nuclear programme"

Description:Jan Gehl (born 1936) is a Danish architect and urban planner known for his human-centered approach to city design. He has dedicated his career to transforming urban environments to prioritize people over cars, making cities more walkable, bike-friendly, and socially engaging. Gehl’s philosophy is based on studying how people interact with their surroundings and ensuring public spaces support daily life, social interaction, and well-being. His influential book, Cities for People (2010), outlines strategies to create lively, safe, and sustainable cities by improving public spaces, reducing car dependency, and fostering community interaction.

Description:Jane Jacobs was a US-Canadian journalist, author, theorist, and activist who influenced urban studies, sociology, and economics.

Description:Judith Pamela Butler is an American philosopher and gender studies writer whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory.

Description:The first person in the Anglophone world to write an extended analysis of Henri Lefebvre, including comparing his work to traditional urban geography and sociology as well as the Marxist Manuel Castells.

Description:Pierre Nora is a French historian elected to the Académie française on 7 June 2001. He is known for his work on French identity and memory.

Description:A sociologist and urbanist, Whyte conducted detailed studies on how people use public spaces. His work, The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces (1980), analyzed seating, walkability, and social interaction, influencing the design of parks, plazas, and streets to encourage engagement.