J. Miguel Kanai, Ph.D.

(UCLA, 2008)

Assistant Professor

• Email
• 305-284-4781

Professor Kanai’s research explores how intertwined processes of urbanization and globalization shape contemporary social life. With a focus on the territorial policies and politics of redevelopment in globalized cities, his work engages with postcolonial urban theory; the spatiality of inequality; regional, city and neighborhood planning; and the place of the middle classes in the contemporary city. Kanai’s research and teaching have a global perspective and a regional specialization in the Americas. In addition to theory and literature surveys, Kanai offers courses in GIScience and quantitative methods.

Representative Publications:

• 2007 Soja, E. and M. Kanai. “The urbanization of the world,” in R. Burdett and D. Sudjic (eds.) The Endless City. New York and London: Phaidon; 54-69.
• 2006 Burdett, R. and M. Kanai. “City-building in an age of global urban transformation,” in R. Burdett (ed.) Cities, Architecture Society: La Biennale di Venezia. Marsilio: Milan; 3-23.

Courses Taught

• GEG105 World Regional Geography
• GEG222 Geography of South America
• GEG199/545 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems