Jordi Borja, Professor in the UAB Department of Geography (1970–1985)

Jordi Borja was one of the pioneers of university-level urban geography in Catalonia. He joined the UAB as a lecturer in Urban Geography at a time when Geography was becoming firmly established as a discipline at the University. This development was led by Professor Enric Lluch i Martín, who championed an applied approach to the study of territory and sought to bring together experts from a range of related fields.

In October 1970, Enric Lluch invited Jordi Borja to teach Introduction to Urban Geography, and he later also taught Institutions and Territory. Borja had recently returned from exile in Paris, where he had completed studies in urban planning and urban geography. His background in Law enabled him to engage with territorial governance from both an academic and a practical perspective. His involvement in the Centre for Urban, Municipal and Territorial Studies (CEUMT, 1972–1983) also allowed him to combine academic work with municipal and territorial management.

For fifteen years, he was a key member of the teaching staff for Geography students at the UAB, introducing them not only to urban planning but also to approaches to local government and territorial management. His election to the Parliament of Catalonia (1980–1984) and his subsequent role in the Barcelona City Council executive (1983–1995) gradually led him away from university teaching, which he left after the 1985–1986 academic year. He held a part-time teaching appointment, broadly comparable to today's Associate Lecturer role, combining his academic work with professional practice in urban planning and public service.

Many of the topics he taught at the University were later developed in his published work, including neighbourhood movements and urban regeneration, municipal governance and spatial planning, the creation and boundaries of Barcelona's districts and neighbourhoods, and territorial inequalities within the city. It is also worth recalling that he was among those who argued that the redevelopment of the Ribera neighbourhood for the Olympic Games should include social housing, a proposal that was ultimately not adopted.

The UAB Department of Geography owes Jordi Borja a lasting debt of gratitude. Generations of students and colleagues benefited from the integrated and practice-oriented perspective on urban analysis and urban governance that he brought to both his teaching and academic debate.