Research

My areas of expertise are in urban design and environmental planning (in particular, planning for climate change mitigation and adaptation, and, more broadly, sustainable urban design); urban resilience; the politics of space; the nexus of environment and development, global urbanization and environmental change; critical urban theory and urban sociology; and the sociospatial issues of informal settlements.

My dissertation, completed at MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning, is a study of the urban spatial politics of climate change adaptation. I investigate sites and strategies in three cities – New York, Jakarta, and Rotterdam – and look through the lens of design to expose the politics, social relations, and mechanisms of urban adaptation. Exploring, on one level, large-scale city and national initiatives, including Rebuild By Design in New York, the “Great Garuda” sea wall plan in Jakarta, and Rotterdam Climate Proof, I also search out alternate narratives, including community resiliency in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and grassroots design activism in the informal “kampungs” of Jakarta.

I also have ongoing research projects on queer space and the sociopolitics of smart cities.

In addition to my faculty position as Assistant Professor of Urban Planning at UCLA, I am a research affiliate of the Resilient Cities Housing Initiative at MIT DUSP, and the Urban Theory Lab at Harvard GSD.

news    bio    cv    research    publications    home

Photo: Maeslant storm surge barrier, Nieuwe Waterweg near Rotterdam. Text & photos by me unless otherwise noted