Faculty Research & Creative Scholarship

The essential research of the CAPLA faculty goes well beyond the fields of design, development, planning and sustainability to the core of how we can live better lives in the built environment.

Faculty research solves problems, impacts decisions and shapes policy. Read our CAPLA faculty research stories:

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Green infrastructure work at Star Academic High School in Tucson

Sustainable Built Environments Faculty Provide Insight on New Study of Urban Heat Disparities in Tucson and Other Western Cities

New research on neighborhood-by-neighborhood heat differences across Tucson—and 19 other cities in the West—has garnered additional insight by Assistant Professor of Planning and Sustainable Built Environments Ladd Keith and Assistant Research Scientist Adriana Zuniga.

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Former 7-Eleven on Walnut Hill Lane in Dallas, Texas, following October 2019 tornado.

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.

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PV panels at ENR2

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.