Staff Spotlight: Rain Kwon
The GDSL are thrilled to announce a number of new staff members. To provide you with an understanding of their background, expertise and their experiences in their new roles, we will be introducing two new staff members each week.
How do geographic data and spatial analysis techniques play a role in solving real-world problems and making informed decisions?
Geographic data and spatial analysis techniques can be applied to study a wide range of real-world problems. I have an urban planning background, so my interest is especially on addressing urban problems such as car dependency and traffic congestion, air pollution, and lack of access to housing and nature. I often use geographic data and spatial analysis techniques to study subjects like urban growth patterns, morphology of cities, citizens’ travel behaviour, real estate actors’ investment behaviour, and spatial inequalities to inform planning policy decision-making. Such decisions can be something like which localities to direct investment in, where to build new housing, and which segments of the population to encourage behavioural change such as car to non-car mode switch or active travel. To give some examples from my own research, in recent years, I have been using cellular automata to visually simulate various urban forms that enable the 20-minute neighbourhood concept using real-life spatial (40*40m grids) and population data from the New Forest district council area. Here, the objective is to build new housing while ensuring the existing and new population’s access to nature and centralities which contain key functions such as work, commerce, healthcare, education and entertainment. In another project, I used spatial agent-based models (ABMs) to simulate the feedback loop of healthier urban development and healthier travel behaviour using real-life spatial data (100*100m grids), population data and NHS disease prevalence data from Greater Manchester, to inform the 20-minute neighbourhood initiative focusing on the health benefits.
What’s your favourite place at the UoL?
My favourite place at the UoL so far is the 9th floor common room in the Roxby Building. It can be often difficult to meet people in the department if you are not in the same research group, and as a new staff member, it has been really great to always be able to find someone to say hi to at the common room. I also think it has the best view in the whole campus!