Staff
Director of the Institute for Metropolitan Studies
Gordon Douglas is an associate professor of urban and regional planning at San José
State University. Gordon’s research, teaching, and community work focus on questions
of access, equity, and local cultural identity in urban planning and design. He is
the author of The Help-Yourself City: Legitimacy and Inequality in DIY Urbanism (Oxford,
2018), and his writing and photography have appeared in publications ranging from
academic journals to magazines, newspapers, and blogs. He has been interviewed as
an expert on topics ranging from gentrification to graffiti for stories in The Washington
Post, Los Angeles Times, 99% Invisible, Fast Company, Streetsblog, the National Post
(Toronto), La Presse (Montreal), and multiple TV and radio news outlets. Born in London
and raised in Northern California, Gordon received his doctorate in sociology from
the University of Chicago and also holds degrees from the University of Southern California
and the London School of Economics. As Director of the Institute for Metropolitan
Studies, he works to expand the relevance and visibility of the institute as a source
for public programming, research, and pedagogy for SJSU and the communities we serve.
IMS Fellow
Alex Schafran is an author, strategist and researcher focused on housing and urban
development, particularly in California. He is the author of The Road to Resegregation:
Northern California and the Failure of Politics (UC Press, 2018), a book which explains
how and why one of the wealthiest and most progressive regions in the country resegregated
so dramatically. His newest book, The Spatial Contract: A New Politics of Provision
for an Urbanized Planet, lays the foundation for building a new social contract for
key systems like housing and transportation, and imagines a world where these systems
we rely upon for basic freedoms play a greater role in our politics. He lives in Oakland,
and works to develop new coalitions and strategies for California housing and development
politics. You can find his new writing on California on his Substack, Where We Go
From Here. A longtime academic, he is excited to play a role in helping the IMS grow
and transform.
Lourdes Jimenez
portrait done by Samuel Rodriguez, 2018
Lourdes Jimenez is the IMS Program Assistant and a current senior at SJSU. She is
majoring in Art History & Visual Communication while simultaneously working towards
an Urban Studies minor. Her interests and focus are researching cultural synergies
and semiotic fields that contribute to the cultural economy of an urban landscape
and plans to proceed with the MUP program offered at SJSU.
Program Assistant
Chris Hazel is a housing, planning, and design professional. He received a bachelors
of science in architecture from the University of Illinois and a Masters of Urban
Planning from SJSU, with a certificate in affordable housing and community development
finance. His research and work focus on affordable and fair housing policy, community
design, and equity. At SJSU he wrote Misplaced Trust, an empirical research report
on the capacity of community land trusts to provide equity and stability in high opportunity
areas. Previously he has worked in community development for municipalities in Illinois
and California, founded and led local community organizations, and practiced as a
freelance designer. He now focuses on housing and spatial analysis as a Planner/ GIS
analyst at PlaceWorks. As the IMS Program Assistant he supports the organization to
share important housing and planning work and connect the professional community.
Leila Ullmann
IMS Fellow
With a background in academic research, policy strategy, and community organizing,
Leila’s work pursues creative strategies to fight gentrification, displacement, and
a constantly changing climate by transforming colonial relationships to land to return
us to just relationship with and within our surroundings. She was born and raised
upon the unceded land of the Muwekma Ohlone people— who are currently seeking federal
recognition for their ancestral connection to the land— also known as San José. As
Visiting Scholar with IMS, she designed and leads Beneath I-280, an archival excavation
of a neighborhood lost to the San José freeway. She is a member-organizer of the South
Bay Community Land Trust, the region’s first community-stewarded land trust. She is
currently pursuing her Masters in Urban and Regional Planning at UCLA, and studied
African American Studies at Princeton University. She is thrilled to continue to support
and grow the work of IMS through research and advocacy.
