Cesar Wagner is an Associate Professor of Urban Design in the School of Architecture at Unitec New Zealand, Auckland. A Brazilian architect and urbanist (BR registered) and New Zealand naturalised citizen, Cesar has professional experience in Brazil, Argentina, the Netherlands, England, and New Zealand. He completed his BArch studies in Argentina and Brazil (1993), a master’s degree in Housing and Urbanism from the Architectural Association School of Architecture, London (2003) – British Council Chevening Scholarship recipient -, and a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (2019).

Former Director of Unitec’s Master of Architecture – Academic (MArch by Project) programme (2010-2012), Cesar has taught in Brazil and China, and lectured at several universities in Latin America, Europe, and New Zealand. His writings and research focus on sustainability issues in urban development projects, the study of public spaces, the intensification of urban housing, gentrification and the urbanisation process in Latin American cities. Cesar’s experience as an educator and researcher has led to regular invitations to review panels, scientific committees, and serve as a guest lecturer, critic, and examiner of master’s and doctoral theses in New Zealand and abroad. He was appointed a panel member of the New Zealand Board of Registered Architects (NZRAB) in 2024 and an advisor on public space for City Space Architecture (CSA) in Bologna, Italy, in 2021.

His latest book, “Gentrificação: O Processo de Reprodução da Desigualdade Social (Gentrification: The Process of Reproducing Social Inequality)”, published in 2024, examines a case of gentrification in Brazil, revealing how the instrumentalisation of this process by various actors, including the State, developers, and financial institutions, can impact vulnerable populations and reshape the urban space according to private economic interests.