Ferruccio “Ferro” Trabalzi studied Architecture and earned his BA in Sociology at La Sapienza in Rome. At the University of California, Los Angeles, he obtained his MA and Ph.D. in Urban Planning with a dissertation on the capacity of traditional food producers located in underdeveloped regions to compete in the global market without losing, in fact, reinforcing, their cultural identity. Ferro has taught at different Universities in the USA and in South Africa. Currently, he lives in Rome where he teaches Sociology with a special focus of contemporary, alternative, and non-touristic Rome. His current research interests include urban agriculture and food culture in Rome, sustainable urbanism and urban identities in the age of globalization, regional economic development with a focus on the role organized crime has in shaping local economic culture.