Research Area(s): Consultants’ Role in Influencing Spatial Planning Processes, Practice, and Outcomes
Eilert is a PhD Research Fellow (2025–) at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning (BYREG) at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU). His research interests include urbanization, power and actors, institutional planning, and sustainable transformation. He holds a Master’s degree in Human Geography from the University of Oslo (UiO) and The New School, NY, where he researched issues related to informal urbanization and development. Prior to joining NMBU, he worked as a social scientist at Rodeo Arkitekter. He also has professional experience from UN-Habitat and teaching experience in urban geography, development studies, and urban planning.
In his PhD project, he investigates the increasing role of consulting firms in spatial development, the implications of privatization of planning practice, and what is required for planners to be able to work more independently on the basis of professional and ethical considerations. He is particularly interested in how the financialization of real estate and developers’ growing use of consultancy services, together with regulatory requirements, are reshaping what constitutes relevant knowledge, tools, norms, and considerations in professional planning practice.
Eilert serves as Chair of Habitat Norway, a thematic division of the Norwegian Housing and Spatial Planning Association (BOBY):
https://habitat-norge.org/
https://boby.no/avdelinger/habitat-norge
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