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David López-García, PhD

Dr. López-García is a Bridge to Faculty Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) Department of Urban Planning and Policy (UPP), where he is affiliated with the Center for Urban Economic Development (CUED) and the Great Cities Institute (GCI). Broadly speaking, his research examines how inequalities of accessibility to jobs in urban regions are produced and sustained. His book “Worker Mobility and Urban Policy in Latin America: Policy Interactions and Urban Outcomes in Mexico City”, a result of his doctoral dissertation, was recently published by Routledge.
Publications
Peer-Reviewed Journals
- López-García, D. & Baker, D. (2023) “Diverging Mobility Situations: Measuring Relative Job Accessibility and Differing Socioeconomic Conditions in New York City”. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 113(1), 149-168.
- Whitney, R. & López-García, D. (2022) “Fast-track institutionalization: The opening of urban planning best practice agencies in Mexico City“. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space. Online first.
- López-García, D. & Heathcott, J. (2022) “Showcase Politics: The production and distribution of new public space in Mexico City“. Journal of Urban Affairs, online first.
- Heathcott, J. & López-García, D. (2022) Design highs and policy lows in the making of new public space in Mexico City. Journal of Urbanism: International Research in Placemaking and Urban Sustainability. Online first.
- López-García, D. & Gómez-Álvarez, D. (2022) “Estructura urbana del Área Metropolitana de Guadalajara, 1999-2019: Un análisis de subcentros de empleo” [Urban structure of Guadalajara, Mexico, 1999-2019: An analysis of employment subcenters]. Estudios Demográficos y Urbanos, 37(2), 427-481.
- López-García, D. (2017) “Mediation styles and participant’s perception of success in consultative councils: The case of Guadalajara, Mexico”. Journal of Public Deliberation, 13(2), Article 10.
Authored Books
- López-García, D. (in print) “Worker mobility and urban policy in Latin America: Policy interactions and urban outcomes in Mexico City”. Routledge advances in Regional Economics, Science and Policy. London: Routledge.
Edited Books
- Delgado, G. & López-García, D. (2020) “Cities and COVID-19: New Directions for Urban Research and Public Policies”. Mexico City: Knowledge Platform for Urban Transformation, International Network for Government and Science.
Book Chapters
- López-García, D. (forthcoming) “Desigualdades en el viaje al trabajo en la Zona Metropolitana de la Ciudad de México” [Inequalities in the journey to work in Mexico City Metropolitan Zone]. In Martha Schteingart, Clara Salazar, and Jaime Sobrino (Eds.), Desigualdades Territoriales. México: El Colegio de México.
- López-García, D. (forthcoming) Planeación e Infraestructura Urbana en Jalisco: Una Mirada al Transporte Público Masivo desde la Accesibilidad y la Exclusión Social. In David Gómez-Álvarez, Carlos Moreno and Máximo Jaramillo (Eds.). Jalisco, balance parcial 2018-2021: Diagnóstico, evaluación y recomendación de políticas públicas locales. Universidad de Guadalajara.
- López-García, D. (2022) “Building Inequality: Infrastructure and Intra-Urban Inequality in the Capitalist City”, In Deljana Iossifova, Yahya Gamal and Alexandros Gasparatos (Eds.), Urban Infrastructuring: reconfigurations, transformations and sustainability in the Global South. Singapore: Springer Nature.
- López-García, D. (2019) “La Paz, Bolivia: The social construction of risk and vulnerability”. In Michael Cohen, Margarita Gutman and María Carrizosa (Eds.) Facing Risk. New Urban Resilience Practices in Latin America, The New School.
Courses
Queens College, CUNY
- URBST-105 | Urban Politics (undergraduate).
- URBST-705 | The Just City in Theory and Practice (graduate).
- URBST-725 | Urban Research Methods (graduate).
The New School
- NURP 5001 | Economics for Public Policy (graduate).
- PGUD 5310 – Design and Urban Ecologies Thesis (graduate).
- PUDM 4120 – Senior Capstone 1 (undergraduate).
University of Guadalajara
- Ph.D. in Urbanism, Doctoral Research Seminar VIII
Professional Affiliations
Member
- Latin American chapter of the International Network for Transport and Accessibility in Low-Income Communities (INTALInC-LAC).
- Policy Mobilities Working Group (PMGW) organized by the Interdisciplinary Center for Development Studies at Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia.
- Urban Affairs Association (UAA), Latin American Studies Association (LASA), and the Regional Studies Association (RSA).
Consulting
Co-Principal Investigator
- The Just City in Africa: Democracy, Social Justice, and Sustainability in A Post-COVID-19 World. Commissioned by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) to write a working paper on transport in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and Kampala (Uganda). October 2021 – April 2022.
Urban Indicators Specialist
- The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). Pilot of the Voluntary Local Reviews (VLR) in African Local Governments: Accra (Ghana), Harare (Zimbabwe), Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe), Yaoundé (Cameroon), and Ngora District (Uganda). Dececmber 2019 – October.
Policy Analyst
- The Latin American Development Bank (CAF). Study of urban resilience best practice policies in Latin American cities. September 2017 – December 2018.
Principal Investigator & Project Manager
- The German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ). Cost-benefit analysis of the low-caron emission zone program ECOZONA, in Toluca, Mexico. September 2016 – February 2017.