Bumsoo Lee earned his PhD from the USC Price School of Public Policy in 2006, and is now an Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Currently, his areas of research center on (1) how metropolitan areas grow and change spatially and (2) the interaction between land use and transportation.
A primary goal of his research now is to seek land use and pricing policies that would support more sustainable and resilient transportation systems in light of climate change.
Can you describe your current research?
My current research focuses on two broadly defined areas. First, I develop and update spatial measurements that can capture how metropolitan areas grow and change spatially. Using these spatial measures, I investigate how such spatial changes are associated with other socioeconomic changes such as commuting efficiency and economic growth.
The second focus is the interaction between land use and transportation. My research in this area started with questions regarding the influences of urban form on travel behavior and is gradually expanding to a study of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Two recent research projects were to estimate how different development patterns impact air pollution and/or GHG emissions from the U.S. household sector and freight transportation system. I also try to highlight the complementary role of land use planning and market-oriented approaches such as pricing in promoting transit ridership and reducing automobile travel. In another ongoing research project, my doctoral student and I try to demonstrate that metropolitan level spatial arrangement matters more than neighborhood level density and design in promoting more sustainable transportation.
What prompted your interest in studying these areas?
My research was motivated by an interest in the spatial organization of urban areas and regional economies. I was fascinated by studying how technological development is reshaping agglomeration economies and tried to find a more efficient spatial structure of urban systems. Over time, the locus of my work has shifted from regional science and urban economics to the intersection of urban transportation and land use planning. Now, a primary goal of my research is to seek land use and pricing policies that would support more sustainable and resilient transportation systems in light of climate change.
Are you currently teaching any classes? If so, which one(s)?
I teach three courses regularly. UP509 Economics for Planners exposes our graduate students to economic approaches to urban problems and planning issues. Urban & Regional Economics and Public Sector Economics that I taught and took, respectively, at USC greatly helped me develop this course at UIUC. UP316 Planning Analysis teaches undergraduate students formal planning methods that are widely used for collecting and analyzing primary and secondary data for various plan making processes. UP460 Urban Transportation and Land Use Policy is my research-based course open to both graduate and undergraduate students. I try to teach integrated perspectives and tools for sustainable transportation and land use planning based on my research activities.
What do you find most rewarding about the work that you do?
I enjoy working in academia. Both teaching and research are rewarding. I am happy to see students improve their skill sets throughout each semester. I am pleased to hear that students find what they learn in my classes useful in their professional work.
Research offers me a different kind of reward. First of all, it is a much enjoyable experience to struggle to find out answers for the questions that I believe important in contemporary urban planning. I feel relieved when my research is recognized by publications and citations. Beyond that, it would be most rewarding if my research findings add up to make a small contribution to policy changes.
How did the Price School prepare you for your current role?
I cannot imagine any better environment where I could prepare for an academic position. I received great research training in a transportation research group under the guidance of professors Peter Gordon, Harry Richardson and Jim Moore. We had weekly or bi-weekly meetings, always with several ongoing research projects.
Beyond important analytical skills required in my field, I was able to learn how to design and manage research projects and write scholarly papers. By the time of my graduation, I had a paper accepted in a top journal and several in the pipeline. Two years of postdoctoral work with Adam Rose at the CREATE Homeland Security Center further improved my research productivity.
I also had great teaching opportunities at the Price School. I was a TA for a real estate development course for several semesters and taught Urban and Regional Economics during my postdoctoral research period. These teaching experiences greatly helped me prepare myself for a faculty position.
Can you provide an overview of your dissertation?
My doctoral dissertation laid the foundation for my research in recent years. Recognizing that the lack of empirical studies on spatial structure was primarily due to the absence of appropriate measures at the metropolitan scale, I developed a method to identify urban employment centers and to quantify urban form along multiple dimensions, including decentralization, dispersion and polycentricity. Using these spatial measures, I conducted three pieces of empirical research. One chapter explored the spatial changes in six metropolitan areas over past two decades, demonstrating that urban development is path dependent. The other two chapters investigated how different spatial forms affect commuting efficiency and economic growth in large U.S. metropolitan areas.
Why did you choose to pursue your PhD at the USC Price School?
To be honest, I had not fully realized the educational opportunities offered at the USC Price School (then, SPPD) until I joined the program in 1999. Only after I arrived at USC, I came to appreciate how supportive and nurturing the Price community was for doctoral students.
Now, I recommend the Price School to many of my own students and others who consult me. There are simply too many advantages at USC for prospective doctoral students in planning: unparalleled lineup of the faculty, synergy with public policy and real estate programs, many active and resourceful research centers including the METRANS Transportation Center and Lusk Center for Real Estate, access to various research seminars and talks, and its location in Los Angeles, a great urban planning lab, to name a few.
What was your most inspiring experience as a USC Price student?
I cannot forget all the support that I received from my advisor, Peter Gordon, and another mentor, Harry Richardson. Financial support and research training through research assistantships were only a part. They provided me with all I needed as a doctoral student from teaching opportunities to proofreading of my journal articles.
But, it was around my graduation when they had a real impact on my career path. They encouraged me to keep pursuing a career in academia after a short period of postdoctoral research. Taking their advice at the moment was one of the best decisions that I’ve made in my career.