Our faculty conduct a wide array of transformative research related to development, planning, design and the built environments.
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Our Research Stories
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Dallas, Texas Turns to CAPLA Planning and Sustainable Built Environments Professor and ULI for Guidance Following Natural Disasters
Ladd Keith, assistant professor of planning and sustainable built environments, chaired the Urban Land Institute Advisory Services Panel that evaluated and made recommendations on rebuilding a Dallas neighborhood following a devastating tornado. Keith also provided insight into the recent Texas power grid failure.
Harvesting Sunlight and Plant Power on UArizona's Greenest Building
New solar panels and a rooftop garden on the university's ENR2 building, a project headed by a team that includes Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture Kirk Dimond and Professor of Landscape Architecture Margaret Livingston, not only generate electricity but also create unique environmental research opportunities.
Research by Assistant Planning Professor Philip Stoker Provides Context for Deseret News Story on Housing Affordability and Other Challenges in ‘Gateway Communities’
In an examination of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Springdale, Utah, Deseret News asks: What to do when your small town is overrun by the rich? CAPLA Assistant Professor Philip Stoker’s research provides insight.
Forbes Housing Affordability Story References Research by Urban Planning and Real Estate Development Professor Arthur C. Nelson
Research on “missing middle housing” conducted by CAPLA Professor Arthur C. Nelson forms the basis for analysis in a February 2021 Forbes magazine story on how innovation can help offset America’s lack of affordable housing.
Research by Architecture Professor Courtney Crosson Shows that Neighborhood Farms Could be the Answer to Tucson's 'Food Deserts'
A study co-authored by Assistant Professor of Architecture Courtney Crosson makes a strong case that even in arid climates, urban farms can help neighborhoods get the nutritious food they need if the farms are irrigated in a sustainable way.
Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning Professor Bo Yang Awarded Research Grant to Examine Spatial Patterns of Green Infrastructure
Awarded to Yang and three other researchers, the four-year grant by the National Natural Science Foundation of China explores green infrastructure interactions with microclimate and stormwater at the urban block level.
New Kid in Town: Missing Middle Housing
There’s a new urban development concept in town—it’s called missing middle housing. And Arthur C. Nelson, CAPLA professor of urban planning and real estate development, had a big part in making it happen, showcased in the new book Missing Middle Housing: Thinking Big and Building Small to Respond to Today's Housing Crisis.
Transportation, Health Equity and Social Justice in Regional Transportation Planning
What can fine-scale spatial modeling of health impacts from long-range transportation plans do to support racial and social justice? More than you may realize, according to CAPLA’s Nicole Iroz-Elardo, assistant research professor of planning.
Planning Associate Professor Arlie Adkins Discusses Pedestrian Fatalities in Arizona NPR Feature
Arlie Adkins, CAPLA associate professor of urban planning, provides insight on the pre-pandemic increase in pedestrian deaths in an August 28, 2020 Arizona Public Media (NPR) story in The Buzz titled "Revising the Danger to pedestrians in Tucson."
As Rural Western Towns Grow, So Do Their Planning Challenges
A new study by Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture and Planning Philip Stoker examines the planning challenges that residents and officials in the rural mountain American West have been watching unfold for years at "gateway communities."
Multidisciplinary Research Guides Teaching: Philip Stoker, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture and Planning
Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture and Planning Philip Stoker joined CAPLA in 2016. He researches how cities and neighborhoods can be designed and planned so that they have fewer negative environmental impacts.
Study Predicts Millions of Unsellable Homes Could Upend Market
CAPLA Professor Arthur C. Nelson's recently published research undermines the classic "big promise" in homeownership: that a home, after it's paid off, can be sold for a retirement nest egg.