David López-García
Adjunct Faculty
Urban Studies Department, Queens College-CUNY
I am an urban policy specialist and a university lecturer. My scholarship is driven by better understanding the distributional effects of urban policies, the incidence of institutional settings over urban wellbeing, and contemporary urban practice. My doctoral dissertation titled "The Political Economy of Accessibility: Housing, Jobs and Public Transit Policy in Mexico City Metropolitan Area", explores the triad between people, land use, and public transit to better understand inequality of accessibility. I am adjunct faculty at the Urban Studies Department in Queens College-CUNY, and at the Parsons School of Design. I teach undergraduate and graduate courses on urban politics, microeconomics for management and public policy, urban research methods, and thesis workshops.
Education
Expected 2020
Ph.D. in Public and Urban Policy, The New School
2018
M. Phil. in Public and Urban Policy, The New School
2014
M. A. in Comparative Public Policy, FLACSO-México
2004
B. A. in Management, University of Guadalajara
Research approach
My research looks at the political economy of infrastructure and its relationship with urban wellbeing.
I approach this agenda through three interacting streams. First, through the field of urban policy where I focus on the politics of policies. Second, through the field of urban political economy were I look at the distributional effects of infrastructure policy. Third, through the field of urban sociology to look at the mechanisms through which institutional arrangements provide or deny economic opportunities to urban dwellers.
I support this research agenda through my training in urban governance, politics of infrastructure, governmentality studies, and mixed-methods research approaches.
Street Market in YangPu District
Shanghai, China.
Photo by David López García
Publications
2020
"Cities and Covid-19: New Directions for Urban Research and Public Policy".
Knowledge Platform for Urban Transformation, International Network for Government Science Advice
2019
"La Paz, Bolivia: The Social Production of Risk and Vulnerability".
The Observatory on Latin America (OLA), Latin American Development Bank (CAF).
Working paper
"Building Inequality: Infrastructure and Intra-Urban Inequality in the Capitalist City".
Qualifying paper to fulfill the requirements of the Public and Urban Policy doctoral program at The New School.
Working paper
"Tracing Displacements of Expertise in City Planning: The Public Space Authority of Mexico City ".
Final paper for the Planning and Counter-Planning seminar led by professor Stephen Collier at The New School for Social Research
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.
With Michael Cohen, Martha Jaimes, Lena Simet and José Gálvez.
"Análisis costo-beneficio de la Ecozona-Toluca. [Cost-benefit analysis of Ecozona-Toluca]"
German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ)
2017
2012
"El Impacto de la Transparencia en Jalisco: Cuantificar la Transparencia para Evaluar Resultados" [The impact of transparency in Jalisco: Quantifying transparency for results assessment].
In Alicia Gómez and David Gómez-Álvarez (Eds.), Agendas Nacionales Implicaciones Locales: Ensayos sobre Transparencia, Democracia y Rendición de Cuentas. Universidad de Guadalajara.
2011
"La Participación Ciudadana en Procesos de Democracia Directa: Un Análisis del Diseño de las Leyes de Participación Ciudadana" [Citizen participation in direct democracy: An analysis of citizen participation institutional design].
In Perspectivas Sobre la Democracia: Participación Ciudadna, Cultura Política y Comportamiento Electoral. Colección Tesis y Ensayos, Instituto Electoral y de Participación Ciudadana del Estado de Jalisco.
2005
"Contaminación y Riesgos Ambientales en Áreas Urbanas: Los Límites de una Administración Tecnocentrista" [Pollution and environmental risks in urban areas: The boundaries of a techology-centered approach].
In Gobierno y Sociedad Civil. Red Nacional de Investigación Urbana (RNIU), Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla.
Teaching approach
Some argue that an epoch is not defined by what we discuss, but by what we take for granted. What I value the most about education is the opportunity to assist students to think of issues that are usually taken for granted but are critical to understanding the social order in which we are embedded.
My teaching philosophy is helping students to think critically about the urban experience and its policy implications. I believe that it is only through the understanding of the social, political, and economic forces that explain the city as it is today, that we can envision and work towards the city that we ought to have tomorrow.
Teaching Experience
URBST-105 | Urban Politics
Department of Urban Studies | Queens College - CUNY
Adjunct Faculty
Since Fall 2019
URBST-732 | Researching New York City
Department of Urban Studies | Queens College - CUNY
Adjunct Faculty
Summer 2020
Economics for Management and Public Policy
Milano School of Policy, Management and Environment | The New School
Teaching Fellow
Since Spring 2019
Urban thesis workshop
Parsons School of Design | The New School
Teaching Fellow
Spring 2018 & 2020
Liquid Cities
Lang College of Liberal Arts | The New School
Teaching Fellow
Spring 2018
Advanced Quantitative Methods
Milano School of Policy, Management and Environment | The New School
Teaching Assistant
Fall 2017
Institutional Design for Governmental Accountability
University of Guadalajara
Adjunct Faculty
2016 - 2019
Work with Graduate Students
- Maha Al-Khater (2020), Non-sustainable Egosytems: Gulf Futurism & Qatar, MA Theories of Urban Practice, Parsons School of Design.
- Obianozo Jessica Chukwuma (2020), Urban Beauty: Equity Entrepreneurship and Black Womanhood, MS in Design and Urban Ecologies, Parsons School of Design.
- Sana Akram (2020), Engendering (In)mmigrant space: Exploring Collaborative Storytelling to Rediscover Little Pakistan, MS in Design and Urban Ecologies, Parsons School of Design.
- Jessica Schwartz (2020), Life Above Buildings: Rooftop Agriculture and the Creation of a Sustainable New York, MA Theories of Urban Practice, Parsons School of Design.
- Mariana Kiwi Mouro Barros, Resilience Plan for Marginal Protection Strips in Risk of Flood, Erosion and Landslide, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, MS in Design and Urban Ecologies, Parsons School of Design.
- Luisa Lazo Trujillo (2019) Local Governents' Accountability: An Exploration of the Determinants of Reelection in Mexico, 2014-2018. The University of Guadalajara.
- Manuel Bazán Cruz (2017) An Analytical and Implementation Analysis of Transparency: The Case of the Indigenous Languages National Institute. The University of Guadalajara.
Completed Masters thesis I have supervised or co-supervised:
Masters thesis I am currently supervising:
- Jaime Gómez, Local Government Accountability in Urban Development Policy: The Case of San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato. The University of Guadalajara.
Get in Touch
Shanghai railway station
Photo by David López García