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The Department faculty engages in a wide range of research within DUSP’s four specialization areas (also referred to as Program Groups): City Design and Development; Environmental Policy and Planning; Housing, Community and Economic Development; and the International Development Group. There are also three cross-cutting areas of study: Transportation Planning and Policy, Urban Information Systems (UIS) and Regional Planning. Students who would like to take part in ongoing
faculty research
projects should
contact one
of the faculty
listed, who
have expressed
a specific
interest in
working with
undergraduates.
Projects are
available
in such areas
as: consumer
and environmental
protection,
housing and
community
development,
law, legislative
process, urban
design, networks,
human rights,
GIS, urban
modeling, transportation, and Education.
Students
should bring
completed
Course 11
UROP applications
to Prof. Klopfer
for signature
and then submit
them to Ms.
Yegian as
early in the
term as possible.
Students who
wish to use
UROP credit
to satisfy
departmental
or Institute
degree requirements
should discuss
their plans
with the UROP
Coordinator.
-
- Prof.
Alice
Amsden,
9-572,
x3-6254, amsden@mit.edu
- Professor
Alice Amsden
focuses
her research
on the question
of how developing
countries
can catch
up in the
area of
technological
capabilities
(production,
project
execution
and innovation).
Innovation
and R&D
are not
necessarily
of foremost
importance
when latecomers
begin to
industrialize,
but mastering
technological
knowhow
related
to producing
goods and
services
efficiently
and executing
new projects
(greenfield
plants,
plant expansion)
is of crucial
importance. The
question
at the heart
of the course
is why some
latecomers
have managed
to industrialize
whereas
others have
failed.
- Prof.
Diane
Davis, 9-637,
x2-2804, dedavis@mit.edu
- Research
focuses
on cities
in conflict,
both in
war-torn
regions
of the world
and elsewhere
among cities
divided
by ethnic,
religious,
racial,
and other
forms of
difference.
An additional
scholarly
concern
is the role
of policing
and the
various
measures
enacted
by cities,
states,
and citizens
to establish
public security
in cities.
Would be
especially
interested
in accommodating
the research
interests
of students
who seek
to innovate
or employ
new forms
of technology,
design,
building
materials,
etc. that
can be used
to establish
fairer security
practices
in the urban
domain.
- Prof.
Joseph Ferreira Jr., 9-516, x3-7410, jf@mit.edu
- Computer-based
modeling
and spatial
analysis
for transportation
and land-use
planning
and urban
information
systems
(especially
computing-intensive
projects
involving
maps, images,
Geographic
Information
Systems,
and geoprocessing
services);
urban information
systems;
risk assessment
and risk
management
involving
public safety
and insurance.
- Prof. Michael Flaxman, 9-522, x8-0461, mflaxman@mit.edu
- Professor Flaxman's research interest is in the development of spatial decision support tools for the planning and management of cites and regions. Such efforts must by their nature involve groups of stakeholders with very different interests, values and expertise. They often require sophisticated simulation modeling and visualizations. Yet the methods used must remain flexible, understandable and fully transparent to their users. These are challenging requirements, particularly for computer-based methods. However, experience has shown that planning methods which recognize and anticipate these needs can be very successful, even in highly contested planning contexts. UROP students are invited to participate in ongoing projects in the integration of Building Information Modeling and GIS, realtime 3d vegetation visualization in GIS, and digital sketch-based planning methods.
- Prof.
Robert
Fogelson,
9-639,
x3-1671, foge@mit.edu
- Urban
History,
esp. urban “rent
wars,” 1917-1929
- Prof.
Lorlene
Hoyt, 9-528,
x2-2073, lorlene@mit.edu
- Lorlene focuses on improving the quality of life experienced by the people who live and work in post-industrial cities. Specifically, she studies how local institutions in post-industrial cities can work cooperatively to both articulate an alternative future and transform the physical, economic, social and psychological reality of a particular urban place – a commercial district, a residential neighborhood, or an entire city. In her research, teaching, and practice, the cross-cutting questions are: why and when do rooted institutions come together for a common purpose? How do such institutions collectively assemble disparate resources and develop a shared agenda for action? How do they produce identifiable consequences and sustain their efforts over time? For more information, see www.UrbanRevitalization.net.
- Dr. Herman Karl, 9-330, x4-0262, hkarl@mit.edu
- Dr. Karl's research, as part of the the MIT-USGS Science Impact Collaborative (MUSIC), focuses on testing and implementing participatory, collaborative approaches to more effectively use science in natural resource management and environmental planning and policy. His current research addresses developing processes of science-based decision-making to build bridges between science, policy, and management to foster collaboration between individuals and institutions worldwide to produce rapid, resilient, and sustainable responses to climate change.
- Prof.
Eric
Klopfer, 10-337,
x3-2025, klopfer@mit.edu
- K-12
student
and teacher
education. Particularly
focusing
on the development
and use
of computer
games and
simulations
for science
learning
on handhelds
and desktop
computers.
- Prof. Ceasar McDowell, 7-307, x3-7587, ceasar@mit.edu
- Ceasar’s
current
work is
on the advancement
of community
and indigenous
knowledge.
Using advanced
tools like
Digital
Storytelling
he has been
working
on the use
of narrative
and story
making as
a tool for
sharing
and maintaining
grassroots
knowledge.
His research
and teaching
interests
also include
the use
of mass
media and
technology
in promoting
democracy
and community-building,
the education
of urban
students,
the development
and use
of empathy
in community
work, civil
rights history,
peacemaking
and conflict
resolution.
Prof. McDowell
heads the
Center for
Reflective
Community
Practice
(CRCP),
which sponsors
many UROP
opportunities
around community
knowledge
and media.
Please see
the CRCP’s
UROP
listing.
- Prof.
Karen
R. Polenske,
9-535,
x3-6881, krp@mit.edu
- Use of
computing
for regional
analyses,
public-infrastructure
(transportation,
water, and
sewer) investment
analyses
in the United
States and
Third World
countries,
economic
and environmental
impact analyses,
theory of
property
rights.
- Prof.
Balakrishnan
Rajagopal, 9-518,
x8-7721, braj@mit.edu
- Prof.
Rajagopal
is working
on a number
of projects.
One involves
the analysis
of global
economic
policies
and laws,
to assess
their impact
on human
rights,
especially
rights to
water, environment,
land and
housing,
around the
world but
specifically
in developing
countries.
A second
project
explores
the relationship
between
courts and
social movements
in large
democracies,
including
their respective
use of legal
norms and
institutions.
A third
project
is interested
in the historical
and contemporary
relationship
between
the ideas
of economic
development,
democracy,
and security.
A fourth
project
is concerned
with the
design of
appropriate
technological
and socio-economic
mechanisms
to eliminate
the problem
of manual
scavenging
in India.
UROP students
are welcome
to participate
in any of
these projects.
- Prof.
Martin
Rein,
9-547,
x3-2047, mrein@mit.edu
- Comparative
analysis
of exit
and entry
into labor
markets
in Europe,
Eastern
Europe.
and the
United States.
(Interested
students
should have
a working
knowledge
of Lotus
or other
spreadsheets.)
- Prof.
Bishwapriya
Sanyal,
9-637,
x3-3270, sanyal@mit.edu
- Low-income
housing,
urban informal
employment,
planning
history
and theory;
Historical
understanding
of how North
American
Planners
have viewed
their counterparts
in other
developed
as well
as developing
countries.
- Prof. Susan Silberberg-Robinson, 9-513, x3-2027, scsilber@mit.edu
- Research focuses on the perception and design of public space in America after 9-11. After September 11, 2001, efforts began in many cities across the United States to secure public space. Although government endeavors to protect public property from outside threats go back prior to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, the events of 9/11 and the continued threat of terrorism have caused many cities and the federal government to rethink issues of public accessibility, open space design and perimeter building protection. Research explores the extent of U.S. efforts to secure the public realm and to assess the effect these efforts have had on the perception and use of public spaces.
- Amy Spelz, 9-641, x3-2017, aspelz@mit.edu
- Jerusalem 2050 project focuses on addressing the everyday needs and issues in the city of Jerusalem through envisioning and dialogue among civil society. Currently, the project is using ideas put forth during last year’s Just Jerusalem Competition to generate more implement-able proposals, to engage more participants and actors in the dialogue, to empower and mobilize Jerusalemite politicians, entrepreneurs, and civil society to create projects for peaceful change, and to discuss methodology and theory for future use in conflict cities. Upcoming projects include a conference in Jerusalem, a seminar series at MIT, a global traveling exhibition, an interactive website, and a book. The co-director of the project is Diane Davis. Other steering committee members and more on the project can be found at web.mit.edu/cis/jerusalem2050.
- Prof.
Lawrence
Susskind,
9-332,
x3-2026, susskind@mit.edu
- Professor
Susskind
is working
on a range
of issues.
As part
of the MIT-USGS
Science
Impact Collaborative
(web.mit.edu/dusp/epg)
he is studying
more effective
ways of
ensuring
that "good
science" is
taken into
account
in environmental
decision-making. At
the MIT-Harvard
Public Disputes
Program
at Harvard
Law School
(web.mit.edu/publicdisputes),
he is studying
the use
of mediation
to resolve
complex
public disputes.
At the not-for-profit
Consensus
Building
Institute
(www.cbuilding.org)
he is involved
in a range
of complex
environmental
negotiations
in various
parts of
the world
including
Latin America
and the
Middle East. At
the Environmental
Technology
Program
in DUSP
(web.mit.edu/etpp)
he is working
through
the Alliance
for Global
Sustainability
to understand
the ways
in which "green
technology" can
be promoted.
UROP students
are invited
to be part
of all of
these projects.
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