In this ongoing project I examine the emergence and institutionalization of socially progressive and environmentally sustainable planning practices in Medellin and its metropolitan area. I use a historical institutionalism lens in combination with literature on metropolitan governance and planning theory to analyze the tactics, timing and sequencing used by different actors to change municipal and metropolitan planning institutions and the factors that lead to successful enforcement mechanisms.

Manuscripts in development:

When innovation and hierarchy collide: the Challenges of Institutionalizing progressive planning practices

Institutional design and metropolitan environmental planning: bridging the gap between municipal autonomy and regional environmental needs

Elements of Institutionalization

Building on the literature on customer assistance programs, I am currently analyzing actions to improve the affordability of water and sanitation services by low-income individuals through lifeline programs in eight Colombian cities. Using mixed methods, I am currently gathering data to better understand the role of social movements and civil society organizations in pushing municipalities to adopt lifelines, how they interact with city hall, city council, the courts, and the national government, and the characteristics of the municipalities that establish these programs.

Manuscripts in development:

Municipal Water Affordability Programs Absent a National Mandate: A comparative analysis of volumetric allowances in Colombia (under review)

Lifeline water blocks in the Global South: A systematic review using PRISMA

My most recent research project looks at conservation organizations and their intersection with urban planning practices. I examine why these organizations, which could be playing an important role in environmental planning processes, are highly insulated from them, and the impacts this has both for urban planning and for conservation practice.

Manuscripts in development:

Who wants a tree inventory and why? The politics of inventorying urban forestry in Galápagos, Ecuador (under review)

More-than-conservation? The role of environmental organizations in improved water and sanitation provision in Galápagos, Ecuador

In this project, I analyze how municipalities with limited administrative capacity and reduced civil society mobilization address growing needs to plan for and implement climate change adaptation. I use water, sanitation, urban greenery and solid waste management in Galápagos, Ecuador, as lenses to analyze what issues get prioritized in the local climate change adaptation agenda, who mobilizes for what and their motivations, and how municipal, provincial and non-state actors interact (or fail to) in pursuit of climate change adaptation. Portions of this research are being carried out in partnership with community scientists in San Cristobal, Galápagos and members of the Galápagos Education and Research Alliance.

Manuscripts in development:

• Community Science and Data Analysis: lessons from an ongoing partnership (with Lia Enriquez)

• Institutional legacies and planning under a changing climate in Galápagos, Ecuador

• Climate resilience and community engagement (with Michael Weisberg, Karen Kodak, Maddie Tilyou, and Deena Skolnick Weisberg)