Cities move us. They connect us to work, education, healthcare, and each other. But as urban systems face growing pressures, the challenge is no longer just about building resilient cities. It is about creating cities that learn, adapt, and grow stronger through disruption.
This is antifragility. Yet the research, planning, and innovation needed to achieve it take place in fields where women remain significantly underrepresented. Today, women make up only 31% of researchers globally. In engineering, the figure drops to around 20%, and in artificial intelligence (AI), it is just 22% of professionals who are women. In transport planning and urban infrastructure development, women continue to be underrepresented in technical and leadership roles, despite designing systems that shape entire societies.
Gender balance in these fields is not just about fairness. It is about effectiveness. When research and planning lack diverse perspectives, mobility systems risk serving some communities well while failing others. Inclusive teams ask better questions, identify overlooked vulnerabilities, and design solutions that respond to the full complexity of urban life.
Voices behind AntifragiCity
For International Women’s Day 2026, we spoke with four women from the AntifragiCity team about their work, their motivations, and what it takes to build truly inclusive, adaptive cities. They come from different disciplines: architecture and engineering, political science, transportation planning, and urban planning. They work across different countries and bring different expertise to AntifragiCity. Yet their insights reveal a shared understanding that cuts across professional boundaries and show that diverse voices do not just strengthen urban mobility research, they transform it.
Nancy Tzioutziou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
Nancy Tzioutziou is a postdoctoral researcher and architect engineer at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Her work explores the resilience of complex urban systems, examining everything from physical infrastructure to the behavioural patterns of communities.
“My work revolves around the resilience of complex urban systems, such as the mobility network with all its interdependencies, from physical infrastructure to behavioural patterns of the local community. The most exciting aspect of AntifragiCity is its emphasis on emerging characteristics within urban environments, moving beyond bouncing back to the pre-disruption operational status to bouncing forward to an adaptive and improved state of operation, according to the principle of antifragility.”
Lisa Verhasselt (Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research)
Lisa Verhasselt, a research associate at the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research, brings a political science perspective to AntifragiCity. Her work focuses on citizens’ participation, particularly through our Citizens’ Forums. “What excites me most is the opportunity to explore how involving citizens directly in discussions and decision-making can contribute to stronger, more adaptive urban responses to challenges,” she says.
Dr Maria Tsami (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
For Dr Maria Tsami, a senior researcher in transportation, an urban & spatial planning engineer (PhD, MSc), and an MSc in information and communication systems, mobility is not just about movement. It is about enabling lives.
“As a senior researcher in transportation planning and sustainable urban mobility, my work focuses on understanding mobility needs and shaping smart, inclusive transport systems by integrating behavioural analysis, transport economics, and sustainable and resilient mobility planning. For me, mobility is not just about movement; it is about enabling lives.”
In a world of continuously changing conditions and growing vulnerabilities, her research explores how mobility systems respond to uncertainty while sustaining resources and continuously improving.
“AntifragiCity is particularly inspiring because it embraces this perspective: transport systems that learn, evolve, and expand opportunity for every citizen, turning uncertainty into a catalyst for smarter and more resilient cities. This vision is exactly what makes this work so meaningful to me.”
“AntifragiCity is particularly inspiring because it embraces this perspective: transport systems that learn, evolve, and expand opportunity for every citizen, turning uncertainty into a catalyst for smarter and more resilient cities.”
Natalia Horshkova (Odesa 5T)
For Natalia Horshkova, part of the Grant Office Odesa 5T, “project management is more than just managing tasks,” she says. “It’s about inspiration, people, and the journey from a spark of an idea to a tangible result.”
What inspires Natalia most is “contributing to an innovative approach to urban mobility. It’s about creating systems that provide real-time responses to the ever-evolving challenges of a modern city’s dynamic pace.”
What inspired their career paths
Inspired by close family members who work in architecture, engineering, and construction, Nancy pursued studies in architectural engineering, where she discovered the complex interplay among urban planning, infrastructure engineering, and socioeconomic development. “My research interest then focused on the field of resilience, not only as an observed static property but as an emergent systemic aspect that can be actively engineered,” she says. “This involves developing methodologies to quantify and enhance the capacity of urban systems to improve their performance and adapt their structure and rules in response to disruptive events.”
Lisa’s interest in political science stems from a long-standing curiosity about how individuals can actively participate in democratic processes and influence public decisions. “This interest grew from a desire to better understand how participation can make governance more inclusive, responsive, and meaningful for people.”
Maria chose a career in transportation planning and urban mobility research “because mobility lies at the heart of how cities function and how people access opportunity,” she mentions. “Transportation systems shape daily life, determining how people reach education, employment, healthcare, and social activities. Very early in my studies, I realised that well-designed mobility systems can transform cities and improve people’s lives. Contributing to transport solutions that are efficient, inclusive, and sustainable continues to be a powerful motivation in my work.”
Natalia approaches urban planning through the lens of antifragility, focusing on managing what she calls ‘unknown-unknowns’.
“In the face of simultaneous climate and security crises, being resilient is no longer enough,” she explains. “We need systems that gain from disorder. My work in urban planning focuses on managing ‘unknown-unknowns’ by building redundancy and diversity into our cities. I am proud to be part of the AntifragiCity team, where we turn these complex challenges into a roadmap for innovation. For me, it’s the next level of urban mobility: transforming the way cities respond to the unpredictable rhythm of life.”
Breaking barriers for women in the field
When asked about barriers facing women in her field, Nancy points to the well-known ‘leaky pipeline’ in research, “where structural inequities and implicit biases cause a disproportionate loss of female talent at senior career stages.”
“Breaking down barriers for women in STEM fields, particularly in highly interdisciplinary domains such as urban systems engineering, requires fostering inclusive environments that actively promote mentorship, leadership opportunities, and equitable recognition for their contributions,” she says.
“Breaking down barriers for women in STEM fields requires fostering inclusive environments that actively promote mentorship, leadership opportunities, and equitable recognition.”
Maria highlights the persistent underrepresentation of women in technical and leadership roles in transport planning and infrastructure development. “Despite progress, women are still less visible in strategic planning, engineering leadership, and major mobility and infrastructure projects,” she says. “Breaking this barrier is essential because better representation leads to better decisions and, in the end, to better cities. When diverse voices contribute to mobility policy and infrastructure decisions, the result is transport systems that are more inclusive, safer, and more effective for everyone.”
“When diverse voices contribute to mobility policy and infrastructure decisions, the result is transport systems that are more inclusive, safer, and more effective for everyone.”
Words of advice for the next generation of women entering the field
Nancy’s advice to young women considering a career in the field: “Embrace the interdisciplinary nature of urban resilience, actively seeking collaborations across engineering, social sciences, and policy to develop holistic solutions for complex urban challenges. Urban resilience is an aspect that demands all the voices and perspectives to be included to respond to the challenges of the future.”
“Urban resilience demands all voices and perspectives to respond to the challenges of the future.”
Lisa encourages them to be confident in their ideas and perspectives, “and don’t hesitate to take up space in discussions and decision-making processes. Building supportive networks and seeking out mentors can also make a big difference in navigating the field.”
Maria’s message to young women is clear: “Your voice matters. Real change begins when people care about their cities, get involved, and take the initiative to help shape the places they live in. In the end, the greatest motivation is knowing that your work can create real meaning by helping build cities that support people, communities, and future generations.”
“Real change begins when people care about their cities, get involved, and take the initiative to help shape the places they live in.”
Why diverse perspectives matter in urban mobility
For Nancy, “diverse perspectives, encompassing varied socio-economic backgrounds, cultural understandings, and disciplinary expertise, are crucial for identifying nuanced vulnerabilities and designing equitable, robust, and resilient urban mobility systems that can adapt to both foreseen and unforeseen disruptions. This inclusivity is particularly vital when addressing issues such as gender-specific mobility patterns and safety concerns, which often go unaddressed in traditionally male-dominated planning processes (ITF, 2021).”
Lisa shares that “diverse perspectives help ensure that research and solutions reflect the needs and experiences of different groups of people. This leads to more inclusive, equitable, and effective mobility policies and innovations that better respond to the complexity of urban life.”
Maria emphasises that urban mobility affects people differently. “When research and planning include diverse perspectives, we gain a deeper understanding of real mobility needs and challenges that might otherwise remain invisible.
Innovation in mobility begins when we start asking better questions about who our systems truly serve—and who they may leave behind. By bringing different experiences and viewpoints into research and decision-making, we can design transport systems that are more inclusive, effective, and responsive to the communities they serve, while continuously learning and building the capacity to serve them even better in the future.”
Natalia is convinced that “diverse perspectives are essential for a comprehensive urban mobility strategy and act as a catalyst for innovation.”
Different voices, shared vision
Urban mobility systems that can truly adapt and improve through disruption require more than technical solutions. They require diverse perspectives, citizen participation, and a commitment to inclusivity at every level of research and decision-making.
When Nancy speaks of resilience as an emergent systemic aspect that demands all voices and perspectives, when Lisa emphasises involving citizens directly in discussions and decision-making, when Maria argues that innovation begins with asking better questions about who our systems serve and who they leave behind, and when Natalia describes managing unknown-unknowns through diversity and redundancy, they are describing the same vision from different angles.
Antifragile cities are not just technically sophisticated. They are inclusive by design. And they understand that without diverse voices in research, planning, and leadership, we will continue to build mobility systems that work for some while failing others.
Antifragility in urban systems cannot be achieved through technical excellence alone. It emerges from the interplay of rigorous engineering, meaningful citizen participation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and teams that reflect the diversity of the communities they serve.
The work continues. And so does the commitment to ensuring that all voices contribute to building the antifragile cities of tomorrow.
About AntifragiCity
AntifragiCity is a Horizon Europe project rethinking urban mobility across Europe. Through collaboration among 13 partners across 8 countries, the project designs mobility systems that don’t just recover from disruption but adapt, improve, and grow stronger because of it. By combining technology, social science, and real-world testing, AntifragiCity is building a roadmap for sustainable, inclusive, and antifragile mobility systems.
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