Daniel Otero Peña is an assistant and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Louvain. His doctoral thesis, defended on 28 August 2025, examined how spatially explicit urban metabolism analysis can inform urban planning and design across different social, geographic and infrastructural scales. The work received the HERA Doctoral Thesis Award 2026 from the Foundation for Future Generations.

His research combines literature review, GIS and spatial data, stakeholder interviews, field observation and design-based investigation. Through case studies in Mexico City, Brussels and Caracas, he developed methods for mapping resource-efficiency patterns, analysing community-scale socio-ecological dynamics and translating metabolic evidence into resource-sensitive and community-inclusive urban archetypes. Within the Lab he also contributes to the Horizon Europe CARING NATURE project, helping to connect nature-based solutions, healthcare environments and spatial assessment. His work seeks to bridge the gap between urban metabolism theory, environmental justice and the practical requirements of planners and designers.