Ali Modarres, Ph.D.

Assistant Chancellor for Community Partnerships
Phone
253-692-5706
Campus Box
358441
Dean and Professor
Phone
253-692-5706
Campus Box
358437
Degrees
Ph.D.
Geography
University of Arizona
1990
MLA
Landscape Architecture
University of Arizona
1985
BLA
Landscape Architecture
University of Arizona
1983
Introduction

Ali Modarres is the Dean of the School of Urban Studies and the Assistant Chancellor for Community Engagement at University of Washington Tacoma. From 1999 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 Economic Roundtable (Los Angeles), South Sound Regional Leadership Council of Forterra, and the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation. He has also served on city task forces and committees, including the Affordable Housing Technical Advisory Group for 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.

Publication Date Bibliographic Citation
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.

2020

Modarres, A. (2020) Coronavirus, Labor, and an Aging World. New Geography. https://www.newgeography.com/content/006596-coronavirus-labor-and-aging-...

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/community-partnerships/center-applied-urban-re...

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.

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.

2017

Modarres, A. (2017) Commuting, energy consumption, and the challenge of sustainable urban development. Current Research on Environmental Sustainability. (Forthcoming)

2016

Modarres, A. (2016) “Reexamining Race and Ethnicity in the Suburbs.” Book Chapter in Future of Suburbia, MIT Press.

2015

Modarres, A. and Dierwechter, Y. (2015) Infrastructure and the Shaping of American Urban Geography. Current Research on Cities, 47: 81–94.

2015

Modarres, A. (2015) It’s not just the author: the reader and the editor are dead, too. Publications, 3: 168-173.

2014

Leadership and the Challenge of Making a City Visible. New Geography http://www.newgeography.com/content/004244-leadership-and-challenge-making-a-city-visible

2014

Thinking About Housing in the Northwest. New Geography http://www.newgeography.com/content/004312-thinking-about-housing-northwest

2014

Life in a Second City. New Geography http://www.newgeography.com/content/004175-life-a-second-city

2013

Boyle Heights: A Brief Demographic and Health Profile. http://www.patbrowninstitute.org/publications/documents/BoyleHeightsReport2013ModarresFINAL.pdf

2013

"Commuting and Energy Consumption: Toward an Equitable Transportation Policy." Journal of Transport Geography, 33: 240-249.

2013

"Re-examining Travel Time to Work." CSU Geospatial Review. 11: 6-7.

2012

"Los Angeles Gets Old." New Geography. http://www.newgeography.com/content/002566-los-angeles-gets-old

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.

2011

Modarres, A. (2011) "Beyond the Digital Divide." National Civic Review, 100(3): 4-7.

2011

Modarres, A. (2011) "New, Aging Los Angeles." California Politics and Policy, 13(1): 36-45.

2011

"Polycentricity, Commuting Pattern, Urban Form: The Case of Southern California." International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 35(6): 1193-1211.

2010

"The suburban question: notes for a research program." Cities, 27(2): 114-121. Co-Author: Andrew Kirby

2010

What is the Answer to the Suburban Question? New Geography.

2010

"Public Transportation and Access to Healthcare: A Case Study of East Los Angeles and the West San Gabriel Valley." Theory and Policy 3 .

2010

Los Angeles 2010: State of the City Report . (Editor) Pat Brown Institute. http://www.patbrowninstitute.org/publications/stateofcity.php

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

2010

Los Angeles 2010: State of the City Report . (Editor) Pat Brown Institute. http://www.patbrowninstitute.org/publications/stateofcity.php

2010

"Migration and the Gulf: Demography, Identity and the Road to Equitable Policies." Anthropology of the Middle East, 5(1): 1-17.