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Virginia Parks

Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy

Virginia Parks, PhD, is a geographer and urban planner specializing in the study of urban inequality.

Areas of Expertise

  • Clean Energy Transition
  • Urban Politics and Policy
  • Racial Inequality
  • Employment
  • Local Economic Development
  • Labor

Biography

Virginia Parks, PhD, is a geographer and urban planner specializing in the study of urban inequality. Her research and teaching interests include labor and employment, racial and gender inequality, urban politics and policy, and local economic development. Professor Parks has published research on the racial wage gap, low-wage work, immigrant employment patterns, public sector jobs, workplace diversity, job training, commuting disparities, and the politics of urban development. Throughout this work Professor Parks is motivated by how urban space, politics, and regulatory environments influence inequality outcomes.

Her current research analyzes the economic effects of the clean energy transition on workers and regional economies.

Media

Watch on YouTube: Faculty Spotlight - UCI Professor Virginia ParksWatch on YouTube: Virginia Parks talks about worker's rights - UCI Labor CenterDownload image: Virginia ParksDownload image: Virginia ParksDownload image: Virginia Parks

Education

University of California, Los Angeles

PhD, Geography, 2002

University of California, Los Angeles

MA, Urban Planning, 1997

University of Colorado

BA, Humanities and History, 1993

Accomplishments

  • Russell Sage Foundation Visiting Scholar
  • Summer Institute in Economic Geography Fellow
  • California Census Research Data Center Dissertation Fellowship

Affiliations

  • Association of American Geographers
  • Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning
  • American Planning Association
  • Urban Affairs Association
  • American Sociological Association
  • Labor and Employment Relations Association

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