Ian Trivers

Ian Trivers, PhD, is an urban planner who teaches and conducts research in a range of topics related to the design and production of the built environment. Ian’s field of specialty is urban redevelopment/revitalization and design, which encompasses the interlocking theories, practices, and policies that shape the central-city urban environment. His areas of expertise include urban planning and design, real estate development and finance, incentives and subsidies, housing, and transportation.

Ian received his BA in Political Science from The Geroge Washington University, Master of Planning from the University of Southern California, and PhD in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Michigan. While at USC Ian had the privilege to be one of the first western interns to work at the China Academy of Urban Planning and Design, part of China’s Ministry of Construction. He was selected as a Rockefeller Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Urban Redevelopment Excellence, gaining specialized training in urban redevelopment and working on post-Katrina recovery in New Orleans. As a Zuckerman STEM Leadership Fellow jointly with the Sam Fox School and the Fair Transport Lab at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology he developed his expertise in transportation. Ian has published in academic journals and books and presented at numerous academic conferences.

Professionally, Ian has worked in a variety of capacities that inform his work and research including working on entitlements as a Land Use Coordinator for a multibillion-dollar capital improvement program for Kaiser Permanente Southern California, an Investment Officer for the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust and co-founding a housing non-profit in New Orleans. Ian’s community involvement includes being a founding member and Issues Chair for the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council, appointed to the Los Angeles Depart of Transportation’s Pedestrian Advisory Committee, and leading the Best Practices committee for the St. Louis Area Coalition of Community Organization’s vacancy initiative (the precursor to the Vacancy Collaborative).

At the Sam Fox School Ian was the Coordinator of the Doctor of Sustainable Urbanism Program, has served on multiple dissertation committees and been awarded multiple grants. Classes taught include Metropolitan Development, River City Redevelopment, Research Methods, Urban Design Studio, Directed Readings in Sustainability, and To Sustainability and Beyond (jointly with Environmental Studies, Sustainable Transportation and the Sustainability Exchange. Ian has also taught courses in Urban Studies at Harris-Stowe State University and guest lectures at multiple universities.