He is an architect, urban planner, and expert in the field of spatial planning, urban energy planning, urban policy and finance. He advises international organizations in the field of urban development, including the IPCC, UNEP Sustainable Building & Climate Initiative (UNEP-SBCI) and UNEP Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI), as well as development banks (World Bank, Asian Development Bank), national governments and local governments. He is a member of the International Resource Panel’s Cities II working group.

He holds doctorates in Architecture, Economics and History & Civilizations from Ecole d’Architecture de Paris La Villette, Université Paris IX Dauphine, EHESS, as well as Master of Public Affairs and Master of Engineering from Ecole Nationale d’Administration and Ecole Polytechnique.

He served as project director of Ecocities and Ecodistricts urban planning in China (2002-08) and project director at Aéroports de Paris (Chief Architect and Engineer) (1990-2001), with major projects in Phnom Penh Airport, Ekaterinburg, Catania, and Abu Dhabi. He is president of the Urban Morphology & Complex Systems Institute in Paris as well as board member of bpifrance lab.

He is the author of Cities and Forms: On Sustainable Urbanism (Hermann, 2011) and The Sustainable Design Handbook: China (2006) as well as numerous other peer reviewed scientific papers and chapters in collective books on issues related to urban planning and urban economics.