Research Projects

Forthcoming research publications, and projects that are submission-ready, include:

With two co-authors from Harvard University's Bloomberg Center for Cities, Quinton Mayne and Fernando Fernandez-Monge Cortazar, a research project critically framing and understanding the ecosystem of Local Systems of Public-Sector innovation (LSPSI) globally, attending to key dimensions and variables explaining local PSI systems and measuring varied definitions and approaches to innovation, administrative regime types, and leadership characteristics.
With Counterpath Press, a monograph focused on Columbia University's Manhattanville campus expansion and personal reflections on course pedagogy and urban planning education at Columbia as it relates to the project.
A preliminary analysis of the urban transport, land-use, and neighborhood planning nexus in Denver, Colorado's East Area, drawing on interviews with city officials and planners, and based on participant observation.
An article drawing on the context of Mahikeng, South Africa to consider sustainable and resilient futures for Small and Medium Cities (SMCs) globally.

Early-stage or ongoing research projects include:

A long-term project considering housing policy in the Denver and Colorado contexts, with an emphasis on "missing middle" housing for middle-income Coloradans and policy reforms for "gentle," contextually suited increases in density.
Continued engagement around the synchronization and alignment of different institutions and actors in neighborhood planning and development in Denver, Colorado, with a focus on the East Area, DO-8 Urban Design Overlay Rezoning, and East Colfax BRT plans.
An examination of “special districts” in Colorado in comparison with municipal governments, drawing on theoretical and empirical methods;
With Prof. Elliott Sclar, an archival investigation of the 1948 Nairobi capital plan, crafted by British and South African planners and a window into a world-historical moment and subjectivity;
An engagement with the photography of South African photographer Mikhael Subotzky and his work on securitization in Johannesburg;
With colleagues at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center, an examination of ethics, deliberation, and patient decision-making processes for organ transplantation, examining the results qualitative survey data and a day-long facilitated deliberation sessions with patients and healthcare providers.
An early-stage theoretical and empirical foray into Colorado neighborhood, municipal, and regional plans and planning processes, and how residents successfully engage and shape these plans at various scales.