Ali Modarres, Ph.D.
Dean and Professor
Assistant Chancellor for Office of Community Partnerships
Education
1990 Geography, University of Arizona, Ph.D.
1985 Landscape Architecture, University of Arizona, M.L.A.
1983 Landscape Architecture, University of Arizona, B.L.A.
Contact
Pinkerton Building, 317
Campus Box 358437
(253) 692-5706
modarres@uw.edu
Ali Modarres is the Dean of the School of Urban Studies and the Assistant Chancellor for Community Engagement at the University of Washington Tacoma. From 2009 to 2017, he served as the Editor-in-Chief of Cities: The International Journal of Urban Policy and Planning. Dr. Modarres earned his Ph.D. in geography from the University of Arizona and holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees in landscape architecture from the same institution. He has published in the areas of social geography, immigration, urban development, planning, and policy. Dr. Modarres has focused a significant portion of his public scholarship on economic development through an equity lens that includes global labor migration within the larger political and economic discourses.
Dr. Modarres serves on a number of governing and advisory boards of academic associations, nonprofits, and policy centers including Forterra Strong Communities Fund and the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation. He has also served on city task forces and committees, including the Affordable Housing Technical Advisory Group for the City of Tacoma. Throughout his academic career, he has built bridges between university and the community, promoting and supporting the mission of urban serving universities.
As a part of his academic service, he serves on the advisory board for Palgrave’s book series on Demography and Political and Social Change in the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa) and Springer’s Urban Book series. He also serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Urban Affairs, Cities, and Sociologica Urbana e Rurale (Italy). He is one of the two founding editors of the new journal of Race, Ethnicity, and the City.
Publications
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2021 |
Modarres, A. (forthcoming) “Urban Dysfunctionalities before the Anthropocene.” Book Chapter in City Preparedness for the Climate Crisis. Editors: Francisco Javier Carrillo and Cathy Garner. Edward Elgar Publishing. |
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2020 |
Modarres, A. (2020) Coronavirus, Labor, and an Aging World. New Geography. https://www.newgeography.com/content/006596-coronavirus-labor-and-aging-... |
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2020 |
Modarres, A. (2020) The State of Affordable Housing in Pierce County. Office of Community Partnerships, University of Washington Tacoma. https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/ocp/home |
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2018 |
Livability and the Challenge of Planning in Tehran.” Book Chapter in Livable Cities from a Global Perspective. Editors: Roger Caves and Fritz Wagner. Pp. 224-235. Routledge. |
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2018 |
Modarres, A. (2018) “Livability and the Challenge of Planning in Tehran.” Book Chapter in Livable Cities from a Global Perspective. Editors: Roger Caves and Fritz Wagner. Pp. 224-235. Routledge. |
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2017 |
Modarres, A. (2017) Commuting, energy consumption, and the challenge of sustainable urban development. Current Research on Environmental Sustainability. (Forthcoming) |
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2016 |
Modarres, A. (2016) “Reexamining Race and Ethnicity in the Suburbs.” Book Chapter in Future of Suburbia, MIT Press. |
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2015 |
Modarres, A. (2015) It’s not just the author: the reader and the editor are dead, too. Publications, 3: 168-173. |
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2015 |
Modarres, A. and Dierwechter, Y. (2015) Infrastructure and the Shaping of American Urban Geography. Current Research on Cities, 47: 81–94. |
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2014 |
"Thinking About Housing in the Northwest." New Geography |
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2014 |
"Leadership and the Challenge of Making a City Visible." New Geography. |
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2014 |
"Life in a Second City." New Geography. |
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2013 |
Boyle Heights: A Brief Demographic and Health Profile. http://www.patbrowninstitute.org/publications/documents/BoyleHeightsRep… |
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2013 |
"Commuting and Energy Consumption: Toward an Equitable Transportation Policy." Journal of Transport Geography, 33: 240-249. |
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2013 |
"Re-examining Travel Time to Work." CSU Geospatial Review. 11: 6-7. |
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2012 |
"Form and Function: On Politics and the Morphology of the Bazaar in Yazd, Iran." Book Chapter in The Bazaar in the Islamic City: Design, Culture, and History. Edited by Mohammad Gharipour. The American University in Cairo Press. |
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2012 |
"Los Angeles Gets Old." New Geography. |
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2011 |
"Polycentricity, Commuting Pattern, Urban Form: The Case of Southern California." International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 35(6): 1193-1211. |
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2011 |
Modarres, A. (2011) "New, Aging Los Angeles." California Politics and Policy, 13(1): 36-45. |
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2011 |
Modarres, A. (2011) "Beyond the Digital Divide." National Civic Review, 100(3): 4-7. |
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2010 |
"The suburban question: notes for a research program." Cities, 27(2): 114-121. Co-Author: Andrew Kirby |
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2010 |
Los Angeles 2010: State of the City Report . (Editor) Pat Brown Institute. http://www.patbrowninstitute.org/publications/stateofcity.php |
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2010 |
"Migration and the Gulf: Demography, Identity and the Road to Equitable Policies." Anthropology of the Middle East, 5(1): 1-17. |
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2010 |
"Public Transportation and Access to Healthcare: A Case Study of East Los Angeles and the West San Gabriel Valley." Theory and Policy 3 . |
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2010 |
Los Angeles 2010: State of the City Report . (Editor) Pat Brown Institute. http://www.patbrowninstitute.org/publications/stateofcity.php |
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2010 |
What is the Answer to the Suburban Question? New Geography. |
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2010 |
Advocating for Healthy Communities in the Face of the Economic Downturn: Nonprofit Health Agencies and the Role of Higher Education . http://www.patbrowninstitute.org/publications/associatedirector.html |
