Hanae is a doctoral student in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Michigan. Her research looks at informal urbanism at the intersection of gender, space, and place. She is interested in understanding social impacts of urban development in the urban Global South. Hanae was born in Japan and grew up in Ghana, Bangladesh, and the UK.
Hanae’s recent research project aimed to uncover the assemblages of informal housing. Drawing on experiences in informal settlements of Dhaka, Bangladesh, the research explored aspects of morphogenesis, materiality, process, and socio-political environment entailed in the construction and modification of housing.
Hanae holds an M.A. in Urban Design and Planning from the University of Sheffield with Distinction where she was also awarded the ADH Crook Prize for Contributions Towards Social Justice in Planning.
Publications
Soma, H., Sukhwani, V. & Shaw, R. (2022). An Approach to Determining the Linkage Between Livelihood Assets and the Housing Conditions in Urban Slums of Dhaka. Journal of Urban Management, 11(1), 23-36, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jum.2021.08.006
Soma, H. (2022). Place Identities of Japanese Social Housing (Danchi): The Role of Urban Design in Creating a ‘Place’. Space for Species: Redefining Spatial Justice – Book of Proceedings, 34(2), 384–399.
Conference Presentations
“The Role of Urban Design in Creating a ‘Place’: Placemaking activity by residents of a social housing in Japan,” Ordinary Cities in Exceptional Times RC21 2022. Athens, Greece. August 2022.
“Place Identitis of Japanese Social Housing (Danchi): The Role of Urban Design in Creating a ‘Place,” AESOP Conference 2022 Space for Species: Redefining Spatial Justice. Online. July 2022.
“Assemblages of informal housing,” International Conference on Urban Affairs, Cities on the Edge. New York, US. April 2024.
