Emeritus professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Amsterdam. He graduated in spatial planning and sociology. He was a researcher at the Dutch think tank, the Scientific Council for Government Policy (1980 -1995). Salet was a professor of governance at TU Delft from 1994 to 1996 when he was appointed in Amsterdam. He chaired the Program Group Urban Planning from 1998 until his retirement in 2016. From 1998 to 2003, he chaired the Amsterdam research institute of the Metropolitan Environment. Willem Salet chaired the AESOP academic prize paper competition and was the association’s President from 2007 to 2009. In 2016, he was awarded an AESOP Honorary Membership. Willem Salet is specialised in metropolitan governance and spatial planning. He takes an institutional perspective in planning studies, including cultural, political and legal aspects of place and environment. He published numerous books and papers and coordinated international studies into urban development, governance and strategic urban projects. He coordinated research on behalf of the European Science Foundation, National Scientific Organisation (NWO), Volvo Research, ministries, and professional agencies. In cooperation with an international group of researchers, he is calling for a turn in planning studies with ‘Institutions in Action’, a handbook and monograph, to be published later in 2017 (Routledge).