Dr. Marcus Zepf is Professor of Urban Planning at the Paris School of Urban Planning and at the University of Paris Est Créteil-Val de Marne. He was director of the Institut d'urbanisme in Grenoble from 2010 to 2015. He got his PhD in Urban Sociology from the EPFL (1999) and certification as a research director (HDR) from the University of Lumière Lyon 2 (2004). His research focuses on low-cost housing (containers for housing and re-urbanization) in Middle East countries, the socio-spatial quality of public spaces and green spaces, the synergy between the granting of heritage status and urban renewal, as well as the dynamics of metropolization and territorial planning.