Anna-Paola Pola is Director Urban Planning and Researcher at WHITR-AP Shanghai. Her fields of interest include urban preservation, sustainable development, and heritage studies. Currently, she is conducting a research agenda on the role of culture for the sustainable development of small settlements and rural areas. She collaborates for projects implementing heritage preservation and sustainable development in villages and is a planning consultant for urban areas. Previously, she has conducted comparative research on urban conservation plans of historic towns in Italy, Latin America, and the Middle East, and post-earthquake reconstruction. She has published essays, curated exhibitions and books, organised conferences and workshops on issues related to urban preservation and planning. Anna-Paola Pola is a member of the editorial board of Built Heritage. She studied architecture at IUAV University in Venice (Italy), TU Delft (the Netherlands) and obtained a PhD in Architecture and Urban Planning from the Politecnico di Milano (Italy).