David López-García
Assistant Professor
Department of Urban Planning and Policy
Pronouns: he / him
Contact
Building & Room:
CUPPA Hall, Suite 215, Office 217
Address:
412 S Peoria St., Chicago, Illinois.
Office Phone:
Email:
Related Sites:
Courses taught at UIC
LALS/US 220 – Latin American Cities in a Global Context: Environment, Employment, and Housing.
GEOG/US 100 – Concepts in Geography.
UPP 506 – Plan Making Studio.
UPP 508 – Global Urbanization and Planning.
About
My research examines how urban spatial structures evolve and what these transformations mean for urban planning and policy. As an economic geographer trained in urban political economy and the sociology of public action, I investigate how urban politics, institutional arrangements, and policy decisions shape the geography of opportunity across metropolitan regions. Using spatial analytic tools and statistical modeling, I investigate whether employment growth areas are accessible to those who need them most and analyze how urban form can either reinforce or alleviate spatial inequalities. A central thread in my research is the governance of urban spatial structure—how state-led planning efforts shape the spatial organization of economic activities in large urban regions.
Currently, I lead a comparative project analyzing the evolution of urban structure in Mexico City, São Paulo, and Buenos Aires, examining how these spatial patterns influence job access and commuting experiences. I also conduct related research in Guadalajara, Montevideo, New York City, and Chicago. I co-coordinate the LAC-US Urban Structure Network and serve as Academic Director of the Latin American chapter of the International Network for Transport and Accessibility in Low-Income Communities (INTALInC-LAC). I serve as Editor of Area Development and Policy (ADP), a journal of the Regional Studies Association (RSA).
At UIC’s College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs (CUPPA), I co-coordinate the Urban Structure Lab (USL), I am a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Urban Economic Development, and an Affiliate Researcher at the Great Cities Institute. I teach in our economic development specialization.
Selected Grants
Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy (IRRPP), University of Illinois Chicago, "Race, travel time, and quality job access in Chicagoland: Comparing models of job accessibility with actual commuting burden", Principal Investigator ($10,000 USD)
Gao-Zhang for Geospatial Technologies Research Award. University of Illinois Chicago, Comparative analysis of multiple methods of employment subcenter detection, Co-Principal Investigator ($19,000 USD)
World Vision, Advancing targeting through a spatial lens: An exploration of the spatial determinants of success and failures in the implementation of the SPIR I project in Ethiopia, Principal Investigator ($53,620 USD)
Brasillinois Research Grants Competition. FAFESP and University of Illinois System, Mapping the Evolution of Urban Spatial Structures in Brazilian and US Metropolitan Areas: Establishing A Collaborative Project for Theoretical and Empirical Innovation, Co-Principal Investigator ($17,750 USD)
Selected Publications
Peer review journals
Villamizar, N., Ardila, A.M., López-García, D. & Hernández, D. (2025) The ‘accessibility turn’ in urban research: Contributions from Latin America and the Global South. Area Development and Policy, 10(2), 149-161.
Heathcott, J. & López-García, D. (2025) Design Highs and Policy Lows in the Making of New Public Space in Mexico City. Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability, 18(3), 483-506.
López-García, D. (2024) Diverging mobility situations in Greater Mexico City: Exploring the factors behind the mobility situations of public transport commuters. Urban Studies, 61(10), 1849-1870.
Baker, D. & López-García, D. (2024) Do shifts in the racial and ethnic composition of a neighborhood lead to extreme changes in commuting times? Evidence from New York City. Travel Behavior and Society, 36, 100775.
López-García, D. & Heathcott, J. (2024) Showcase Politics: The production and distribution of new public space in Mexico City. Journal of Urban Affairs. 46(4), 772-790.
López-García, D. & Baker, D. (2023) Diverging Mobility Situations: Measuring Relative Job Accessibility and Differing Socioeconomic Conditions in New York City. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 113(1), 149-168.
Whitney, R. & López-García, D. (2023) Fast-track institutionalization: The opening of urban planning best practice agencies in Mexico City. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 41(3), 600-616.
López-García, D. & Gómez-Álvarez, D. (2022) Estructura urbana del Área Metropolitana de Guadalajara, 1999-2019: Un análisis de subcentros de empleo [Urban structure of Guadalajara Metropolitan Area, 1999-2019: An analysis of employment subcenters]. Estudios Demográficos y Urbanos, 37(2), 427-481.
Authored books
López-García, D. (2023) Worker mobility and urban policy in Latin America: Policy interactions and urban outcomes in Mexico City. New York and Abingdon: Routledge.
Edited books
López-García, D., Villamizar, N., Ardila, A. & Vecchio, G. (in contract). Urban Planning and Accessibility in Latin America: Spatial, Mobile, and Socio-Cultural Dimensions. Routledge Advances in Regional Economics, Science, and Policy. New York and Abingdon: Routledge.
Delgado, G. & López-García, D. (2020) Cities and COVID-19: New Directions for Urban Research and Public Policies. Mexico City: Knowledge Platform for Urban Transformation, International Network for Government and Science.
Working papers
López-García, D., Wilson, M.D., Jain, K., Man, M., Javidi, N. & Pilegar, E. (2024) Review of methods for the identification of employment subcenters and their application in the Chicago Metropolitan Statistical Area. Working Paper No. 01, Urban Structure Lab, University of Illinois Chicago.
Ramos F., Lopez-García, D. & Biderman, C. (2025) Three decades of transformation in the urban structure of the São Paulo Metropolitan Area. Urban Structure Lab, University of Illinois Chicago.
Book chapters
López-García, D., Whitney, R. & Heathcott, J. (2025) Institucionalización fast-track y política de vitrina como estrategias para la consolidación de innovaciones en la gestión urbana [Fast-track institutionalization and showcase politics as strategies to consolidate urban innovations]. In Cesar Rentería and David Gómez-Álvarez (Eds.), Pensar fuera de la caja burocrática: espacios para la innovación pública en América Latina. University of Guadalajara Press.
López-García, D. (2024) Desarrollo Urbano en las Áreas Metropolitanas en Jalisco: Tendencias en la evolución de su estructura urbana e implicaciones para la calidad de la vida [Urban development in Jalisco Metropolitan Areas: Trends in the trajectory of urban spatial structure and implications for quality of life]. In Adrián Acosta (Ed.), Jalisco, mañana: Proyecto de actualización de Jalisco a Futuro, visión 2050. University of Guadalajara Press.
López-García, D. (2023) Trajectorias residenciales y experiencia de movilidad en la Zona Metropolitana de la Ciudad de México [Housing pathways and the mobilty experience of workers in Mexico City]. In Pablo Elinbaum and Gonzalo Sanz Cerbino (Eds.), Espacio, Tecnología y Acumulación: La construcción de una agenda de investigación para los estudios urbano-regionales. Buenos Aires: CONICET, CEUR.
López-García, D. (2023) Desigualdades en el viaje al trabajo en la Zona Metropolitana de la Ciudad de México [Inequalities in the journey to work in Mexico City]. In Martha Schteingart, Clara Salazar, and Jaime Sobrino (Eds.), Desigualdades Territoriales: Miradas Cruzadas. México: El Colegio de México.
López-García, D. (2023) El transporte público masivo: accesibilidad y exclusión social [Mass public transport: Accessibilty and social exclusion]. In David Gómez-Álvarez et al (Eds.). Jalisco a medio camino: Balance parcial 2018-2021. Volumen I, Políticas públicas locales. Guadalajara: Universidad de Guadalajara.
López-García, D. (2022) Building Inequality: Infrastructure and Intra-Urban Inequality in the Capitalist City. In Deljana Iossifova, Yahya Gamal and Alexandros Gasparatos (Eds.), Urban Infrastructuring: reconfigurations, transformations, and sustainability in the Global South. Singapore: Springer Nature.
Reports
López-García, D., Tilahun, N. & Nawaz, M.S. (2025) Intervention targeting through a spatial lens: Exploring the relationship between spatial elements and the outcomes of the SPIR I project in Ethiopia. Technical Report. World Vision, University of Illinois Chicago.
López-García, D. & Lowe, K. (2025) Race, travel time, and earnings in Chicagoland: Comparing predicted job accessibility with the commuting burden of public transit. Working Paper No. 02, Urban Structure Lab, University of Illinois Chicago.
López-García, D. (2022) How just is public transport in African Cities? Nairobi: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES).
Publication Aggregators
Professional Leadership
Academic Coordinator, Latin American Chapter of the International Network for Transport and Accessibility in Low-Income Communities (INTALInC-LAC).
Co-Coordinator, Urban Structure Lab at UIC
Co-Chair, Planners of Color Interest Group (POCIG), Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP)
Education
Ph.D. in Public and Urban Policy, The New School.
M.Phil. in Public and Urban Policy, The New School.
M.S. in Comparative Public Policy, FLACSO-México.
B.A. in Management, Universidad de Guadalajara.
Research Currently in Progress
- The governance of urban spatial structure in Latin American megalopolises: Mexico City, São Paulo, and Buenos Aires.
- Evolution of urban spatial structure in Latin American urban regions and US Metropolitan Statistical Areas.
- Disparities in the journey to work in Mexico City and Montevideo.
- Race, travel time, and quality job access in Chicagoland: Comparing models of job accessibility with the actual commuting burden.
- Inequalities of access to jobs in employment subcenters in New York City.