This research contributes to the ongoing discussion of improving justice through better city planning. We experimented with and evaluated a reformed planning process that is bottom-up and user-based when designing a new transport service, which connects inner-city residents with suburban jobs in the Milwaukee region. The pilot experimentation confirmed the benefits of such a reformed process on transport justice but also shed light on the challenges of ensuring equitable representation of under-represented individuals in urban planning

Lingqian (Ivy) Hu is a professor in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Florida. She serves as the Chair of the Urban and Regional Planning Department as well as the Associate Director of the School of Landscape Architecture and Planning in the College of Design, Construction, and Planning. Professor Hu’s work has focused on the interrelationship between transportation and land use, with an emphasis on equity. She has extensive knowledge of real-world planning and policy efforts to promote just and prosperous cities, reduce socio-spatial inequity, and enhance environmental justice. Professor Hu has published extensively in prestigious urban planning and transportation journals, and she has led more than $1 million funded research projects supported by the National Science Foundation and other agencies. One example of the impacts of her research is FlexRide Milwaukee, which pilots a new micro-transit service to address a long-term transportation gap in the Milwaukee region.

1. Na T, Wang X, Hu L, Liu Z. Gender Difference in Commuting Travel: A Comparative Study of Suburban Residents in Beijing and Shanghai. Travel Behaviour and Society. 2022; Volume 28: 196-203.
2. Hu L, Klein N, Smart M. Comparing Immigrant Commute Travel Adaptation Across and Within Racial/Ethnic Groups. Transport Policy. 2021;110:112-122.
3. Yang L, Hu L, Shang P, Yumin Y. Estimate the Impacts of High-Speed Rail on Service Industry Agglomeration in China: Advanced Modeling with Spatial Difference-In-Difference Models and Propensity Score Matching. Journal of Transport, Economics and Policy. 2021;55(O1):16-35.
4. Sheng M, Hu L, Zhang B, Deng L, Zhao Y. Housing Tenure and Neighbourhood Satisfaction in Transitional Urban China: Evidence from Changchun. Habitat International. 2021;112:102358.
5. Hu L, Moayyed H, Frank N. Racial/Ethnic and Class Segregation at Workplace and Residence: A Los Angeles Case Study. Journal of Urban Affairs. 2020;44(3):1-19.