A number of faculty and staff throughout the Department of Urban Studies and Planning participate in the cross-cutting work of the Urban Information Systems group through research projects and publications, teaching classes involving extensive applications of computing in planning, and advising students whose thesis work extends our understanding of the urban and regional planning implications of information and communication technologies.

Faculty and staff

Joseph Ferreira, Jr.

Professor of Urban Planning and Operations Research
Head, Urban Information Systems

Professor Ferreira was the founding director of the Planning Department's Computer Resource Lab and is now head of Urban Information Systems. Professor Ferreira teaches analytical methods and computer-based modeling for planning and urban management. His current research interests focus on spatial data infrastructure, interactive spatial analysis tools, and geographic information systems for land use planning, urban modeling, and risk management. He is the principal investigator for a number of research projects at UIS, including those involving the MIT ortho-browser, 'Urban Respiration', the Boston office market, and the revitalization of Beirut. Both Prof. Ferreira's undergraduate degree (in electrical engineering) and his PhD degree (in operations research) are from MIT. Currently, he is active in a number of professional and academic organizations including serving as President of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA), an interdisciplinary organization that is the oldest professional association focused on the use of information systems to improve our urban and regional areas. More.

Mike Flaxman

Assistant Professor of Planning Technology

The design and planning of large landscapes; geographic information systems; alternative futures planning; geovisualization; planning support systems. More.

Lorlene M. Hoyt

Assistant Professor of Technology and Planning

Urban revitalization strategies; business improvement districts; public participation GIS; planning education and pedagogy. More.

Eran Ben-Joseph

Hayes Career Development Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture and Planning

Urban and physical design, standards and regulations, site planning technologies and urban simulation. More

Dr. Fabio Carrera

Visiting Lecturer

Pedro Ferraz de Abreu

Post Doctoral Fellow

Lynn Fisher

Assistant Professor of Real Estate

Financial contracting; property rights; housing economics. More

Dennis Frenchman

Professor of the Practice of Urban Design
Head, City Design and Development Program

Urban design, advanced media and the design of public space, heritage and cultural development, transformation of former industrial areas. More.

David Geltner

George Macomber Professor

Real estate finance, real estate investment. More.

Annette Kim

Assistant Professor of Urban Studies and Planning.

Urban development, property rights, transition economies, spatial analysis. More

Eric Klopfer

Frank Levy

Daniel Rose Professor of Urban Economics
Chair, DUSP PhD program

Computerization of work. More

Caesar McDowell

Associate Professor of the Practice of Community Development
Director, Center for Reflective Community Practice

Community building, culture, information technology, community psychology, cross boundary leadership. More

William J. Mitchell

Professor of Architecture and Media Arts and Sciences.

A longtime associate of the UIS group and proponent of the use of Computer-Aided Design technologies in the fields of Architecture and Planning, Mitchell has taught and advised a number of MCP and PhD students in Planning Support Systems. He teaches courses and conducts research in design theory, computing applications in architecture and urban design, and imaging and image synthesis. He is best known for his research in architectural design theory and practice in the information age, and for his innovations in design education. His most recent book, City of Bits: Space, Place, and the Infobahn (MIT Press, 1995) focuses on the architectural, urban, and social consequences of the unfolding digital revolution. Mitchell holds a B.Arch. (honors) from the University of Melbourne, a MED from Yale University, and a MA from the University of Cambridge. He has been awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Doctor of Architecture from the University of Melbourne. In 1997 Mitchell was awarded the annual Appreciation Prize of the Architectural Institute of Japan for 'achievements in the development of architectural design theory and practice in the information age as well as worldwide promotion of CAD education'. More

John de Monchaux

Professor of Architecture and Planning.
Director, Special Program in Urban and Regional Studies.

Urban settlements; design review. More.

Thomas J. Piper

Principal Research Scientist.

Karen Polenske

Professor of Regional Political Economy and Planning

Regional economic development, energy/environmental analyses, economic-impact analyses. More.

Dr. Carlo Ratti

Research Scientist
Director, SENSEale City Laboratory

Urban design, electronic media and the design of public spaces, human computer interfaces. More.

Dr. Rhonda Ryznar

Lecturer

Interdisciplinary research approaches to planning issues; specialization in spatial data analysis; human behavior/environment interaction. More.

Dr. Raj Singh

Research Scientist.

Bill Wheaton

Professor of Economics and Urban Studies

Urban economics, real estate, public finance. More.

Chris Zegras

Assistant Professor of Transportation Planning

Measuring the built environment for research on travel behavior, developing indicators of sustainable transportation, metropolitan futures and transportation planning, transportation finance, the role of advanced information and communication technologies in personal travel, mitigating transportation greenhouse gas emissions. More.

Support staff

Sue Delaney

Administrative Assistant for the UIS group. More.

Duncan Kincaid

Network Administrator
Director, Computer Resources Network. More.

Philip Thompson

Network Administrator. More