Urban Studies
Cities are confusing places: in some locales, we find rapid economic growth, with an infusion of firms and high-paying jobs; in others, we find clusters of dilapidated housing and high crime rates. The range of issues across the social and economic landscape is also perplexing. What causes these phenomena to occur? Urban Studies research focuses on phenomenon and societal issues in the context of cities. The research topics include urban development, urban land and real estate economics, urban morphology, planning, housing, health, history, culture and geomatics. Current projects by members of the Department of Geography and Environment include research on: recent decline in the downtown quaternary functions in North American cities; spatial demographics of educational demand; urban opportunities for youth gambling; urban environmental influences on childhood obesity; geographic studies of paediatric trauma; urban forms for seniors' independence and mobility; property acquisition and social mobility; spatial patterning of urban crime; geographies of personal networks; urban demographics and housing choices; uncertainty and household mobility; and the Imag(in)ing London historical GIS project.
Find Faculty Supervisors in this Area:
|
Graduate Chair
Professor
(On Sabbatical - July 1, 2024-June 30, 2025)
Western Faculty Scholar
garku@uwo.ca
|
519-661-2111, x. 85343
Room 2427, SSC
|
Research Areas
Housing and economic development; Urban development and policy analysis; Regional and local economic development policy and planning; Third World development issues (esp. Africa)
Teaching
People, Places and Landscapes; Urban Development; Urban Economic Development; Urban Geography of the Developing World
|
|
(Acting) Graduate Chair
Professor
jamie.baxter@uwo.ca
|
519-661-2111, x. 81241
Room 1407, SSC
|
Research Areas
Social construction of risk, community responses to technological hazards, renewable energy policy, noxious facility siting, and methodology
Teaching
Environmental Hazards & Human Health; Qualitative Methods; Research Design, Environment, Economy and Society
|
|
Associate Professor
Director, Western Centre for Urban Policy and Local Governance
mbuzzell@uwo.ca
|
519-661-2111, x. 85329
Room 2429, SSC
|
Research Areas
Higher education policy, research on teaching and learning, society-space relationships with a focus on housing, health and GIS
Teaching
Housing, The Geoweb & Geomedia, Research Design and Methodology
|
|
Professor
(On Sabbatical - July 1, 2024-June 30, 2025)
Director, Urban Development Program
Cross Appointed with School of Health Studies and the Department of Paediatrics
jgillila@uwo.ca
|
519-661-2111, x. 81239
Room 2432, SSC
|
Research Areas
Healthy Communities, Active Transportation, Children's Geographies, Food Environments, Health Geography and GIS
Teaching
Healthy Cities; Land Use and Development Issues; Graduate Seminar in Urban Studies; Advanced Urban Social Geography; Systematic Reviews for Environment, Development and Health
|
|
Associate Professor
(No longer accepting students)
jhopkins@uwo.ca
|
519-661-2111, x. 85027
Room 2423, SSC
|
Research Areas
Cultural geography, gender, public places
Teaching
Social Geography; Urban Culture; Cultural Geography; Geography of Gender; Advanced Cultural Geography
|
|
Assistant Professor
jinhyung.lee@uwo.ca
|
519-661-2111, x. 85025
Room 2413, SSC
|
|
Research Areas
Transportation, time geography, spatial accessibility, inequalities, geographic data science
Teaching
GIScience, transport geography
|
|
Undergraduate Chair
Associate Professor
aleszczy@uwo.ca
|
519-661-2111, x. 80161
Room 2425, SSC
|
Research Areas
Digital geographies, platforms and cities, digital location/geolocation, GIScience & Society
Teaching
Geographic Information Science; Digital Geographies
|
|
Professor
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences
Co-Director of the Western Centre for Climate Change, Sustainable Livelihoods and Health (WeCLISH)
iluginaa@uwo.ca
|
519-661-2111, x. 86944
Room 1409, SSC
|
Research Areas
Environment and health, air pollution, GIS and health, HIV/AIDS
Teaching
Geography of Health and Health Care; Environment and Health; Advanced Studies in Environment, Development & Health
|
|
Assistant Professor
rtchouka@uwo.ca
|
519-661-2111, x. 85030
Room 2413, SSC
|
|
Research Areas
Urban planning, cultural geographies, public space, food cultures, community-engaged research
Teaching
Economic geography, qualitative methods, sustainable urban planning
|
|
Professor
jfwang@uwo.ca
|
519-661-2111, x. 85017
Room 2402, SSC
|
Research Areas
Remote sensing and GIS
Teaching
Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS); Remote Sensing; Advanced Topics in Remote Sensing; Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (Graduate); Remote Sensing Digital Image Analysis (Graduate)
|
