Michael Hooper

Prior to joining UBC, Michael Hooper spent a decade teaching at Harvard University and worked with the United Nations in New York and Kenya. Hooper has been a visiting research fellow at the University of Oxford and the Nordic Africa Institute. Hooper began university at National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei and received undergraduate and master’s degrees from McGill University and MIT. He completed his PhD at Stanford, where he conducted research on forced evictions and resettlement in Tanzania. He is a registered professional planner in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.

Michael Hooper's research focuses on urban planning, policy and politics, with particular interest in three themes related to urban spatial transformation: displacement, disasters and densification. Across these topics he has a strong cross-cutting interest in public participation, governance and organizations. 

Hooper has broad geographical interests, having lived, worked and conducted research in many different places, ranging from Taiwan to Tanzania, and is passionate about comparative, empirical research in the rapidly changing cities of the Global South and North. Past research projects have addressed, among other topics, forced displacement in East Africa, post-disaster reconstruction in Haiti, urban densification in Mongolia and the climate-related risks faced by unsheltered residents of North American cities. 

For a full list of research outputs and publications, please see the link to his personal website on the left of this page.