Maina Wachira
Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning
Maina Wachira is a PhD student in Urban and Regional Planning from Nairobi, Kenya. He holds a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Chicago and an M.S. in Applied Quantitative Methods and Social Analysis (with a concentration in Computational Social Science) from Northeastern University.
He is interested in using network science, agent-based modeling, and spatial analytics to explore what cities across the Global South add to our understanding of the theory and governance of cities as complex systems. This currently involves emerging interests in (1) how different forms of urban segregation affect, and are affected by, unequal social and environmental conditions and (2) how planning processes are shaped by the structure of research and governance networks.
Prior to his graduate studies Maina worked in Nairobi, Kenya as a research and analytics professional, where his interests were stimulated by close contact with an interdisciplinary body of African academics seeking to support evidence-based policymaking in climate vulnerable and rapidly urbanizing countries.
