NSF-funded research experience opens doors for UW Tacoma students to conduct field research on urban housing systems in Latin America

Housing needs are a common conversation topic for Washingtonians, but the problem is far from unique to the Evergreen State. Cities around the globe face barriers to accessing urban housing, prompting some governments to take creative approaches to addressing this issue for their residents.

A new international research experience, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, will empower University of Washington Tacoma students majoring in urban studies and civil engineering to explore how the Latin American country of Chile has addressed this complex social and technical challenge.

The project, led by UW Tacoma faculty members Jeff Walters, an assistant professor in the School of Engineering and Technology, and Anaid Yerena, an associate professor in the School of Urban Studies, provides funding for students to study housing systems alongside researchers and students at the Universidad Diego Portales in Santiago, Chile.

Observing housing done differently

Among urban planners, Chile's housing policies are widely regarded as innovative, having influenced those of other Latin American countries, such as Mexico and Colombia. With approximately 90% of Chile's residents living and working in cities, the government has focused on closing urban housing gaps through community-based solutions.

Walters, who previously served as a faculty member at Universidad Diego Portales, said the experience will provide students with the opportunity to immerse themselves in Chilean culture while studying how history, politics and social structures have shaped the country’s housing systems.

“Students who leave this program will see that providing urban housing solutions and urban development infrastructure in general is complex. It’s challenging. It’s almost chaotic," Walters said. "These systems that support urban housing programs, whether positive or negative, are a product of interconnected factors that operate in a very complex way. In this experience, they’ll gain that system’s perspective.”

Building bridges across disciplines

The global experience is designed to help students build skills in collaborating with others across fields, enabling them to examine housing needs through a multidisciplinary lens and understand how they’re addressed within broader contexts.

“The opportunity for students from these two fields to come together, think about a challenge together and problem solve together is a very big part of the reason why this interdisciplinary approach makes sense,” Yerena said.

As part of the project, Walters and Yerena are also developing a new elective course at UW Tacoma focused on urban housing in Chile, which will be launched this spring. Students that take this course will be eligible to apply for the program, and those selected will complete an additional team-building course before taking part in the 6-week trip abroad.

As an architect and planner, Yerena attributes her success in completing projects to her ability to communicate effectively with collaborators across fields. She hopes that this experience will give students the opportunity to do the same as they engage in paid international research and explore innovative models they can draw on in their future careers.

“I want this particular experience to break down those silos,” Yerena said. “It’ll have students from different fields coming together to work as a team, more like the way that problems and projects are dealt with in the field.”

The project is funded by the NSF’s International Research Experience for Students (IRES) program, which supports projects for students to gain compensated hands-on research experience abroad. The award, which continues through 2028, will fund three years of summer research experiences for students.

Students who are interested in applying to the program are encouraged to complete the online interest form or contact Jeff Walters at jpwalt@uw.edu for more information.