People

John R. Hipp

John R. Hipp is the Director of the Metropolitan Futures Initiative (MFI). He is a Professor in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society, the Department of Policy, Planning, and Design, and the Department of Sociology, at the University of California, Irvine. He is also co-director of the Irvine Lab for the Study of Space and Crime (ILSSC). His research interests focus on how neighborhoods change over time, how that change both affects and is affected by neighborhood crime, and the role networks and institutions play in that change. He approaches these questions using quantitative methods as well as social network analysis.

This is a video describing some of his work.

Jae Hong Kim

Jae Hong Kim is the Associate Director of the MFI, and a faculty member in the Department of Planning, Policy, and Design at the University of California, Irvine.  His research focuses on urban economic development, land use change, and the nexus between these two critical processes.  His academic interests also lie in institutional environments – how institutional environments shape urban development processes – and urban system modeling.  His scholarship attempts to advance our knowledge about the complex mechanism of contemporary urban development and to develop innovative urban planning strategies/tools for both academics and practitioners.

Victoria Basolo

Victoria Basolo is a founding member of the MFI Executive Committee and a faculty member in the Department of Planning, Policy, and Design at University of California, Irvine. She conducts research on housing and community development policy, urbanization, urban governance, and environmental hazards in urban settings. Professor Basolo currently is working on several projects in California and in Mexico. She is part of a collaborative team of researchers from the Department of Planning, Policy, and Design and the School of Engineering engaged in a National Science Foundation-funded study of flood hazard in Newport Beach and the Tijuana River Valley; a member of the School of Social Ecology’s cross-departmental research effort, the Metropolitan Futures Initiative; and principle researcher on a study of housing planning and policy in California. Her work includes theoretically-grounded scholarship and applied, empirical research published in a range of housing, urban studies, planning and environmental venues. Professor Basolo teaches housing policy, research design, and quantitative methods. She is actively engaged in the UC Irvine and the broader community through her research and service.

Kevin Kane

Kevin Kane, Ph.D., is an Associate Regional Planner in Demographic Forecasting for the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG).  He is an economic geographer interested in the quantitative spatial analysis of urban land-use change and urban development patterns, municipal governance, institutions, and economic development.  His research uses land change as an outcome measure – in the form of changes to the built environment, shifting patterns of employment, or the socioeconomic composition of places – and links these to drivers of change including policy, structural economic shifts, or preferences for how we use and travel across urban space.

Nene Osutei

Nene Osutei, Ph.D., is a researcher and policy analyst at the Center for Economic Development at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. His research expertise lies at the nexus of local and regional economic development and social equity. His interests lie in university-driven urban dynamics and the evolving roles of higher education institutions, particularly in the areas of land acquisition, employment, health care provision, and policing. His academic interests lie in economic development and social equity.