Francisco Lara-Valencia

Ph.D. (Urban Planning) University of Michigan
M.A. (Regional Development) El Colegio de la Fontera Norte, Mexico
B.S. (economics) Universidad Autonoma de Baja California, Mexico

Southwest borderlands development planning, economic development planning, urban health disparities, environmental vulnerability.

Francisco Lara-Valencia is an Assistant Professor of the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning and Southwest Borderland Scholar at ASU. He is also a faculty affiliated to the School of Geographical Sciences, the North American Center for Transborder Studies (NACTS) and the Department of Transborder, Latina/o and Chicana/o Studies (DTLCS) in ASU. He received his Ph.D. in Urban Planning from The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and did graduate and undergraduate work in Mexico. He has lectured in Mexico and the United States where he has taught courses on urban land use planning, urban economics, environmental planning, and research methods for planners.

Francisco's major areas of inquiry include socio-environmental vulnerability, urban health, regional development, binational planning, and the role of community networks on sustainable development. His policy research focuses on issues of equity and efficiency of policy making and planning along the US-Mexico border.