Chester Harvey

Transportation, Environmental Design, and Urban Data Science

I am the Director of the Transportation Policy Research Group at the University of Maryland's National Center for Smart Growth and hold a PhD in City & Regional Planning from UC Berkeley. My research uses data science and mixed methods to examine how microscale urban design influences pedestrian accessibility, psychology, and behavior. This work bridges urban design and transportation, encouraging researchers and practitioners in these highly related but too-often-separated corners of planning to collaborate in making walking and other energy-efficient transportation not only practical but preferable compared with more resource-intensive modes like driving.