Theory, Analysis + Action

URP Ph.D. Student Research Interests

Andrews, Leon
ltandrew@umich.edu
Advisors: Barry Checkoway and Elsie Harper-Anderson
Dissertation: "Evaluating a Youth Development Policy Framework in Planning for Our States: An In-depth Case Study of New Mexico"
Basmajian, Carlton
cbasmaji@umich.edu
Dissertation Committee: Scott Campbell (chair), Joe Grengs, Robert Fishman, (members), Matt Lassiter (cognate)
Dissertation Title: "Planning for Sprawl: Regional Development and Local Politics in Atlanta, Georgia, 1970-2002"
areas of interest: Regional planning, urban history, land use
My work considers the historical role of regional planning institutions in producing sprawl.
Conference paper: "Population Projections and the Production of Sprawl: the 1976 Regional Development Plan of Metropolitan Atlanta," Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, Ft. Worth, Texas, November, 2006
Chen, Yongjia
sophiayc@umich.edu
Advisors: Lan Deng, Scott Campbell
Areas of interest: housing economics, international planning, development economics and international financing
My research examines the relationship between housing development and financial institutions in developing countries. It focuses on exploring the role of financial constraints on housing development, and the impact of international financing on housing market.
Coseo, Paul
pcoseo@umich.edu
Advisors: Larissa Larsen, Richard Norton
areas of interest: My research interest is in the various ways in which urban design patterns impact city environments in the Great Lakes region, including the interrelationship between urban design, ecology, and urban climatic conditions.
David, Nina
npdavid@umich.edu
Dissertation Committee: Richard Norton (chair), Elisabeth Gerber (cognate), Jonathan Levine, Scott Campbell (members)
Dissertation Title: "An analysis of coordination in growth management efforts - Evaluating the quest for planning's philosopher's stone"
areas of interest: Land use planning, Environmental planning, Urban politics, Public administration, Organizational and institutional studies
My research examines intergovernmental coordination in growth management settings and the effect of both formal and informal institutions on potential land use and coordination outcomes. I am particularly focusing my analysis on Michigan, New Jersey and Florida.
Conference paper: An abstract ideal or reality? An evaluation of coordinated planning and governance in Michigan. Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, Ft. Worth, TX, November, 2006.
Epstein, David
davideps@umich.edu
Advisors: Jonathan Levine & Robert Fishman
areas of interest: land use, social movements, survey methodology, spatial analysis
My work examines how third sector organizations affect land use decisions, especially in the context of racial/ethnic tensions. I hope to identify potential solutions to a planning conflict in northern Israel between farmers & environmentalists, Arabs & Jews, and government agencies & civil society groups.
Conference paper: Margaret Dewar and David Epstein, "Planning for 'Megaregions' in the United States: Findings from Planning for the Great Lakes Megaregion", World Planning Schools Congress, Mexico City, 11-16 July 2006.
Greenstein, Shana
shagreen@umich.edu
Advisors: Gavin Shatkin, Robert Fishman
areas of interest: My research focuses on historical and cross-cultural uses of public space for "private sphere" work, specifically with an eye towards resource-sharing and water use (examples include public laundries, baths, communal spigots, etc) to inform planning as we move into a time of threatened global scarcity and of increased privatization of water resources.
Kaylor, Charles
ckaylor@umich.edu
Dissertation Committee: Jonathan Levine (Chair), Steven J. Jackson (cognate), Scott Campbell, Daniel G. Brown, Malcolm McCullough (members)
Dissertation Title: "Bypassed by Broadband: Community Planning for Technology Infrastructure"
areas of interest: Infrastructure, Land Use and Community-Based Planning, Technology & Telecommunications; Mixed Methods and GIS; History and Theory of Planning and the Urban Form
My work generally focuses on public sector planning and implementations of technology (including digital government, uses of technology for planners, information technologies and public participation). My dissertation project focuses on telecommunications infrastructure planning. I argue that the community planning process plays an important role articulating and mobilizing pockets of demand for telecommunications that are not recognized by market providers. I make use of data and case study information drawn from a statewide planning process in Kentucky, using tools from statistics, geostatistics, and GIS.
Conference paper: "Probing the Assumptions of the Technology-Based Economic Development Nexus--An Assessment of Telecommunications Infrastructure Planning" presented at the ACSP 2006 Annual Conference, November 9-12 in Fort Worth, Texas.
- "Strategic Planning for Technology" Presented to the E-Governance Program at the Irish Institute, Boston College Boston, Massachusetts 13 October 2006
- "The State of Local E-Government and E-Democracy: Benchmarking the Progress of US Cities at Providing Online Opportunities for Citizen Engagement" in Jennifer Cowley and Maria Manta Montoy, eds., E-government: Key Citizen Participation Issues and Applications for Local Governments (Columbus: The John Glenn Institute of Public Service and Public Policy, 2005.
- "The Next Wave of e-Government: The Challenges of Data Architecture" Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science & Technology, Vol. 31, No. 2, December/January 2005.
- "Today's Scheme for Tomorrow's Technology" co-authored with Chris Steins. Planning Magazine, July 2004.
- "E-Government: Concept and Correlates" co-authored with Lisa Wulf & David Prosperi, presented at the International Conference on Politics and Information Systems: Technologies and Applications (PISTA '04), - Orlando, Florida, 21-25 July 2004.
- "The Evolution of Cooperation: An Assessment of Capacity Building Among the Largest U.S. Cities," International Conference on Public Participation and Information Technologies (ICPPIT-03), Cambridge, MA, 10-12 Novermber, 2003.
Kim, Eun-Young
kimey@umich.edu
Advisors: Jonathan Levine
areas of interest: transportation planning, land use, environmental planning, and urban policy
Kolozsvari, Douglas
dougkol@umich.edu
Advisors: Joe Grengs, Jonathan Levine
areas of interest: Sustainable transportation and land use planning; parking
My interest is in sustainable transportation, which includes the connection between transportation and land use (parking and sprawl, air pollution exposure from mobile sources) as well as non-motorized transport (smartbike programs). I am interested in developing countries' transportation systems and how improved access can be accomplished with minimal environmental and social impacts. Parking is one of my passions that keeps me looking back at planning in U.S. cities to see how we can improve this fundamental nexus between land-use and transportation.
Papers:
Kolozsvari, Douglas. 2006. Oakland should use parking to its advantage. Oakland Tribune, 5 July, p.M-7.
Kolozsvari, Douglas, and Donald Shoup. 2003. Turning small change into big changes. Access Fall (23):2-7.
Liu, Xuan
xliu@umich.edu
Advisor: Jonathan Levine
areas of interest: Land Use and Transportation, Spatial Modeling, Regional Planning
My research interests range from regional demographic dynamics, to land use changes, and their connections to transportation planning. More specifically, my recent works have been focused on analyzing accessibility at regional level using computer models.
Conference paper: "Predicting Land Use Change: Using the UrbanSim Model" Presented at IMAGIN Conference, Dearborn MI, May, 2005.
Loh, Carolyn Gillespie
cgloh.umich.edu
Dissertation Committee: Scott Campbell (chair), Robert Fishman, Richard Norton, (members), Elisabeth Gerber (cognate)
Dissertation Title: "Five Acre Minimum: Managing Exurban Growth Through the Planning Process"
areas of interest: sprawl, land use planning, GIS, state and local government
My research examines efforts by local governments to manage growth using the comprehensive planning process, focusing on the relationship between planning goals and land use outcomes.
Conference paper: Norton, Richard K., Nina P. David, and Carolyn G. Loh. "Managing Development in Coastal Michigan: What Communities Have, What They Say They Want, and What They'll Likely Get." Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, Ft. Worth, TX, November 2006.
Sami, Neha
nehasami@umich.edu
Dissertation Committee: Gavin Shatkin (chair), William Glover (cognate), Scott Campbell, Matthew Hull (members)
Dissertation Title: "Who develops? The Changing Urban Politics of Real Estate in Post-Liberalization India".
areas of interest: International planning, urban sprawl, environmental managementMy work looks at the relationship between global economic linkages and peripheral city growth in India.
Conference paper: Local Labor for Global Exhibition-How the Rise of Construction in Preparation for the 2010 World Exposition Has Affected the Rural-Urban Migrant Population of Shanghai (Joint work with Charles Garcia and Alexander Jacobsen)-Outstanding Paper Award, Urban Development and Planning in China : China Planning Network (CPN) 3rd Annual Conference, 2006, Beijing, China
Shen, Qingyun
sqingyun@umich.edu
Advisors: Jonathan Levine & Joe Grengs
areas of interest: My research interests started from noting the spatial pattern of job-housing imbalance in most north American metropolitan areas and the consequent problems caused by such pattern, including the daily long-distance commuting (mostly by driving), congestion, increasing auto dependence, restriction of location choices for low-income people, etc. I am interested in finding the causes of such problems and the solutions to them by looking into the mechanics of urban housing and real estate markets, the success and failure of certain programs on affordable housing, and transportation policies and planning. I am currently involved in a research project on the calibration of accessibility index of major metropolitan areas in the U.S. with Professor Levine and Professor Grengs.
Song, Jumin
zoomin@umich.edu
Dissertation Committee: Jonathan Levine (chair), Susan Handy (UC Davis-ITS), Joe Grengs, Bob Shoeni (Public Policy & Economics)
Dissertation Title: "Planning for Accessibility: In the Context of Regional Transportation and Spatial Planning" (tentative title)
areas of interest: Transportation-Land Use Policy and Planning, Regional Transportation and Blueprint/Scenario Planning, Spatial Analysis
My academic interest is to examine the interrelationships of transportation investment, development patterns, and travel demand. For my practical interest, I am now involved in the California Regional Blueprint Planning Program at the California Department of Transportation.
Conference/publication paper: "Revisiting the Relationship between Mobility and Accessibility: Complementary or Contradictory? (ACSP, 2006)"; "Public Transport Reforms in Seoul: Innovations Motivated by Funding Crisis (JPT, 2005)"; "Matching Smart Growth Policies to Community Needs: The Smart Growth Matrix for Transportation Planning Agencies (TRB, 2003)"
Stockmann, Deirdra
deirdra@umich.edu
Advisors: Scott Campbell, Margaret Dewar
areas of interest: Food systems planning, regional planning, land use
I am exploring the role regional planning plays and can play in the food system - primarily in North America. I am interested in, to simplify, 'Farm to City' linkages and how they can address both peri-urban land use issues and economic viability of 'working lands' as well as urban food security, access and public health. My work will also explore how planning in the last 150 years has, whether intentional or not, affected the food system.
Vanka, Salila
salila@umich.edu
Advisors: Larissa Larsen, Gavin Shatkin
areas of interest: technology, greening of cities, developing countries I am interested in studying the role of information technology in development planning (with a focus on environmental issues), in developing countries.
Wang, Xiaoguang
xgw@umich.edu
Dissertation Committee: Joe Grengs (chair), Carl P. Simon (cognate), Jonathan Levine, Lidia Kostyniuk (members)
Dissertation Title:" Investigating the energy-efficient built environment: from drivers? perspective".
areas of interest: Transportation and land use planning, Spatial data analysis My work examines the effect of built environment (i.e. land use patterns, transportation system, and design features) on travel behavior. How to use GIS and apply spatial data analysis methods in planning research are also parts of my interests. Conference paper: "The Application of Geostatistics Methods in Analyzing Housing Data," Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, Ft. Worth, TX, November, 2006.
Weimar, W Cameron
cweimar@umich.edu
Advisor: Larissa Larsen
Areas of interest: Energy & Environmental Planning, Planning for Sustainability, Urban Design, Working Lands Conservation
I am currently interested in exploring how land use policy and planning may influence the development of the burgeoning U.S. alternative fuels industry. I am also curious about how increasing energy demand and new utility infrastructure may conflict with existing land uses. I recently completed the Master of Urban Design program at Michigan (2006) and am pursuing both academic & professional publication opportunities while professionally practicing urban design & planning with the Midwest design firm JJR.