Dr Daniel Arribas-Bel PhD

Personal Statement

Dani Arribas-Bel is interested in computers, cities, and data. He is a senior lecturer (Associate Professor) in Geographic Data Science at the Department of Geography and Planning of the University of Liverpool, where he runs the MSc in Geographic Data Science and is a member of the Geographic Data Science Lab. Prior to his appointment in 2018, Dani was lecturer in Geographic Data Science at the University of Liverpool, lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Birmingham, postdoctoral researcher at the VU University in Amsterdam, postdoctoral research associate at Arizona State University’s GeoDa Center for Geospatial Analysis and Computation, and PhD student at Universidad de Zaragoza.

Originally interested in the spatial configuration of cities and how urban activites unfold over space and time, his quantitative and methodological mindset has instigated an interest in spatial modelling, machine learning and scientific computing. When the recent data revolution became apparent, Dani jumped in to combine substantive interest in cities with methodological expertise and tackle the challenge of integrating new data in the analysis toolkit. He has published more than 40 articles in journals such as PLoS ONE, Demography, Geographical Analysis, or Environment and Planning (A/B/C). Integral to his academic profile is a profound commitment to open science and interdisciplinary collaboration. Dani has been a member of the development team of PySAL, the Python library for spatial analysis, since its first release in 2009; has created the Python library contextily, which enables access to web tiles; and has participated as mentor in three Google Summer of Code programmes.

An active speaker in both academic and industry conferences, Dani has been invited to give talks at universities around the world, including India, Japan, Brazil, or Colombia. He holds honorary positions at the University of Chicago’s Center for Spatial Data Science, the Center for Geospatial Sciences of the University of California Riverside, and the Smart Cities Chair of Universitat the Barcelona.

Dani currently serves as co-editor of the journal “Environment and Planning B - Urban Analytics & City Science”, and is member of the editorial board of Spatial Economic Analysis, Geographical Analysis, and Transactions in GIS. Since 2017, he is chair of the Quantitative Methods Research Group of the Royal Geographical Society.