Ph.D. in Urban Planning / Current Student Research and Awards
Current Students
Patrick Cooper-McCann
pcooperm@umich.edu
Advisors: Margi Dewar, June Manning Thomas
Paul Coseo
pcoseo@umich.edu
Advisors: Larissa Larsen, Richard Norton
Dissertation Committee: Larissa Larsen (Chair), Richard Norton, Scott Campbell, and Marie O'Neill (Public Health)
Working Dissertation Title: Green Alley Assessment: Evaluating the impact of sustainable infrastructure on the urban heat island in Chicago neighborhoods
Areas of interest: Urban climatology, urban design, and environmental planning
I am interested in understanding the links between sustainability, climate, and urbanization. Many sustainability efforts aim to create compact settlement patterns. Yet, compact patterns of development increase the amount of impervious surface, which generally exacerbates temperature increases contributing to urban heat islands. I am currently working on a dissertation that looks at Chicago's Green Alley program which offers a unique case study of the interactions between human and urban climate systems. I will investigate the development of Chicago neighborhood alley system and how human development has created certain urban climate configurations. In addition, I will examine the City's efforts at adapting infrastructure to mitigate or lessen urban heat production and how the program affects neighborhoods that are more vulnerable to urban heat stress.
Awards: Graham Institute Doctoral Fellow 2010–2011
David Epstein
davideps@umich.edu
Advisors: Jonathan Levine, Robert Fishman
Dissertation Committee: Margaret Dewer (Chair), June Manning-Thomas, Jonathan Levine, Larry Gant (School of Social Work)
Working Dissertation Title: Fostering Capacity Building and Participation with Neighborhood Information Systems.
Publications
- Margaret Dewar and David Epstein, "Planning for 'Megaregions' in the United States", Journal of Planning Literature, Volume 22, Number 2, Pages 108-124, 2007
Presentations (Accepted on basis of abstract)
- David Epstein (presenter) and Yaakov Garb, "Finding Common Ground in the Galilee", Association of European Schools of Planning, Napoli, 11-14 July 2007.
- Margaret Dewar (presenter) and David Epstein, "Planning for ‘Megaregions' in the United States", Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, Fort Worth, November 9-12, 2006.
- Margaret Dewar (presenter) 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.
Presentations (Invited)
- Yaakov Garb (presenter) and David Epstein, "Rapid Retail Deconcentration in Post-Communist Prague: Causes and Travel Consequences," invited presentation to the conference Spatial Deconcentration of Economic Land Use and Quality of Life in European Metropolitan Areas, Jerusalem November 20-22, 2005.
- David Epstein, "Labor Organizing & Strategic Labor Research in the US," invited presentation for Kav La'Oved, Tel Aviv, August 14, 2005.
Eun-Young Kim
kimey@umich.edu
Advisors: Jonathan Levine
Areas of interest: transportation planning, land use, environmental planning, and urban policy
Douglas Kolozsvari
dougkol@umich.edu
Advisors: Jonathan Levine
Areas of interest: Transportation infrastructure, benefits and decision-making in less developed countries; biofuels; air quality; parking
My dissertation research focuses on how civil society organizations (CSOs) participate and influence transportation decision-making in less developed countries (LDCs), particularly in the context of colonial railways in sub-Saharan Africa. My dissertation focuses on two groups that sought to sustain railway service and protect the physical infrastructure of the "unprofitable" FCE railway in Madagascar despite numerous events that could have permanently closed the line. While the railway may not generate a profit, it enables a regional economy to function and continues to support the livelihoods of entire communities along its length. I am investigating the approach these CSOs have employed for building support for the railway, including using arguments about the railway's history, its socioeconomic importance and its role in protecting the threatened forests along its length. Closely related to my dissertation topic is how transportation benefits are defined in these countries, as well as the role that power and rationality play in these nations' transportation decision-making processes.
In addition, I am also involved in a biofuels project in Madagascar. The project area is located along the length of the FCE railway. For more information on this project, please visit: sitemaker.umich.edu/madagascarbiofuel/home
Selected Publications, Presentations and Conference Papers:
- "Using Colonial Heritage to Protect Local Interests and the Environment." Conference paper presented at 2009 annual meeting of African Studies Association in New Orleans, USA
- "Uniting Behind the Past: Civil Society Organizations and the Protection of Transportation Infrastructure." Conference paper presented at 2009 annual meeting of the Association of European Schools of Planning in Liverpool, UK
- "Parking Policies in the U.S." 2006 Guest Lecture for Transportation Geography (GEPL 4750), Assistant Professor Iseki. University of Toledo; Toledo, OH
- Oakland should use parking to its advantage. Oakland Tribune, 5 July 2006: M-7
- "The High Cost of Free Parking." 2006 Neighborhood Parking Benefit Program Summit, Portland Department of Transportation; Portland, OR
- "The High Cost of Free Parking." 2006 California Public Parking Association, Annual Conference; San Francisco, CA
- Turning small change into big changes. Access Fall (23), 2003: 2-7; with Donald Shoup
Wonhyung Lee
elsalee@umich.edu
Advisors: Gavin Shatkin, Joe Grengs
Areas of interest: Urban ethnic geography, Globalizing cities, Network analysis, Cross-Cultural research
My research currently explores the socio-spatial dynamics among foreign-born populations in the context of mega-cities where exhibit new space and culture of ethnic heterogeneity. Particularly, I am interested in how "foreigners" use the urban space and how the patterns of spatial usage relate to the meaning of segregation.
Justin Meyer
justrm@umich.edu
Advisor: Larissa Larsen
Sarah Mills
sbmills@umich.edu
Advisors: Richard Norton, Larissa Larsen
Interests: Rural land-use decision making, agricultural viability & farmland preservation, exurban development, on-shore commercial wind development.
More information on Sarah's research interests are available in this interview.
Shohei Nakamura
nshohei@umich.edu
Advisor: Gavin Shatkin
Areas of interest: land management, housing and slum policies, India, Southeast Asia, spatial analysis (GIS/remote sensing/spatial statistics)
Kate Owens
kateo@umich.edu
Advisor: Lan Deng
I am interested in urban planning and real estate finance in low income countries, particularly in East Africa. My dissertation will investigate the impact of changes in the land regulation system and foreign investment on the spatial form of four cities in Tanzania.
Nathan Podrid
nlpo@umich.edu
Advisor: Scott Campbell
Areas of Interest: Regionalism, Environmental Management and Policy
Nghi Nguyen-Phuoc
nghiyung@.umich.edu
Advisor: Gavin Shatkin
Dissertation topic: My dissertation research will aim to ask the following questions: What kind of housing do low-income people get in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam? How do they get it?
Areas of interest: I am interested in housing policy in developing countries with a particular emphasis on low-income housing. I am also keen to explore the socio-economic and spatial implications of rapid urban expansion in the transitional economies of Asia. For instance, I am interested in the 'new towns' which are cropping up on the city peripheries to cater to the emerging middle class and upper-middle class in Vietnam. The political and economic processes which give rise to such developments, and the spatial, social and economic implications of this phenomenon, have much in the way of determining what kind of a society the country is on course to become.
Nicholas Rajkovich
rajkovic@umich.edu
Advisors: Larissa Larsen, Dick Norton
Dissertation Committee: Larissa Larsen (Chair), Richard Norton, Scott Campbell, and Marie O'Neill (Public Health)
Each year in the United States more people die from heat waves than from any other type of natural disaster. Assessments of climate change project an increase in the intensity, frequency, and duration of extreme heat events. Fatalities associated with increased temperatures occur primarily in cities. Planning for heat waves will require city officials to determine the vulnerability of residents, to assess risk related to global warming, and to add adaptive capacity to the built environment.
My dissertation borrows insights and methods from building science, urban climate, and the environmental health sciences to assess exposure to thermal stress in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Greater Cleveland is the focus of the study because a national-level assessment of heat vulnerability identified the county as being extremely susceptible to high temperatures. While Cleveland and its suburbs represent a single case, the results from this research are applicable across the Midwest, and the methods are appropriate for use in other cities with a similar climate.
Journal Articles
- Pyke, Chris, Sean McMahon, Larissa Larsen, Nicholas B. Rajkovich, and Adam Rohloff. 2012. Development and analysis of Climate Sensitivity and Climate Adaptation opportunities indices for buildings. Building and Environment 55(9): 141-149.
- Conlon, Kathryn C., Rajkovich, Nicholas B., White-Newsome, Jalonne., Larsen, Larissa, & Marie S. O'Neill. 2011. Preventing cold-related morbidity and mortality in a changing climate. Maturitas 69 (3): 197-202.
- Kwok, Alison G., and Nicholas B. Rajkovich. 2010. Addressing climate change in comfort standards. Building and Environment 45(1): 18-22.
Book Chapter
Rajkovich, Nicholas B., William C. Miller, and Anna M. LaRue. 2011. Zeroing in on Zero Net Energy. In Energy, Sustainability, and the Environment: Technology, Incentives, Behavior edited by F. P. Sioshansi. London: Elsevier.
Conference Papers
- Rajkovich, Nicholas B., Rick Diamond, and Bill Burke. 2010. Zero Net Energy Myths and Modes of Thought. Paper read at American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, August 15-20, 2010, at Asilomar, CA.
- Rajkovich, Nicholas B., and Larissa Larsen. 2010. LEED as Collaborative Planning; LEED as Public Policy. Paper read at Constructing Green: Sustainability and the Places We Inhabit, May 20-22, 2010, at Ann Arbor, MI.
Awards
- National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, 2011–2014.
- Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute Fellow, 2011–2012.
- Awarded a travel grant to attend the National Institutes of Health Training Program in Advanced Spatial Analysis at the Penn State University Population Research Institute, 2011.
Danielle Rivera
dzrivera@umich.edu
Advisor: Suzanne Lanyi Charles
Areas of Interest: Informal Communities, Urban Design
Napong Rugkhapan
Areas of interest: Urban form and morphology, history of the built environment, towns and cities in Southeast Asia.
Eric Seymour
eseymour@umich.edu
Advisors: Margaret Dewar, Scott Campbell
Areas of interest: Affordable housing, community development, shrinking cities.
My research focuses on emerging processes for planning after abandonment and the tensions they raise between equity and efficiency in housing, infrastructure, and service provision. In my dissertation, I intend to examine the processes and products of the Detroit Works Project, which offers an important case study in the perils and possibilities involved in negotiating these conflicts.
Joshua Shake
jdshake@umich.edu
Advisors: Martin Murray, Gavin Shatkin
Areas of Interest: informal settlement upgrading, economic development, redevelopment, planning in Central and South America
Research interests: I intend to research culture and identity impacts of large scale redevelopment projects in central São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brasil – focusing on the roles played by mega-events and global trends in influencing local design, access, and right to the city outcomes.
Qingyun Shen
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.
Thomas Skuzinski
skuzinsk@umich.edu
Advisor: Lan Deng
Areas of interest: affordable housing; regional governance; real estate development policy, my research currently focuses on whether the use of low income housing tax credits by public housing authorities should be encouraged beyond their current areas of concentration in the Northwest and Northeast United States. More broadly, I am interested in how various legal and fiscal policies affect affordable housing provision, especially the comparative impact on different types of housing providers (public, private for-profit, private non-profit)."
Melissa Stutts
stultsm@umich.edu
Advisors: Larissa Larsen
Ian Trivers
ianrt@umich.edu
Advisors: Lan Deng, dLarissa Larsen
Salila Vanka
salila@umich.edu
Advisors: Larissa Larsen, Gavin Shatkin
Areas of interest: technology, greening of cities, developing countries
Matthew Weber
matweber@umich.edu
Advisor: Margaret Dewar, Richard Norton
Areas of interest: Community development, neighborhood planning, legal geography, urban poverty, social equity.
My dissertation research focuses on the ways that property as an institution changes in "shrinking" cities. Specifically, I am studying spatial concentrations of clouded title and squatting in abandoned houses and on vacant land in Detroit as an emerging informal property regime. My research asks: (1) What are the causal factors that generate informal property in the City? (2) What are the consequences of informal property for its owners, its neighbors, and for what shrinking neighborhoods become? (3) What policy responses to informality are appropriate at the local and state levels?
Publications
- Dewar, Margaret, and Matthew Weber. Forthcoming. City Abandonment. In Oxford Handbook of Urban Planning, edited by R. Weber and R. Crane. New York: Oxford University Press.
David Weinreich
dpwein@umich.edu
Advisors: Richard Norton, Joe Grengs
Areas of Interest: Regional governance, public transportation, transportation finance, politics
I am interested in the challenges posed by increasing fragmentation in metropolitan governance. I am looking at what exceptional conditions have enabled counties within large regions to cooperate, one issue at a time, in order to solve these otherwise intractable problems – and under what conditions such cooperation has not taken place.
Jennifer Williams
jwillia@umich.edu
Advisor: Martin Murray
