Managing Urban Planning Projects in the Era of Autonomous Vehicles

Synopsis:
Dr. Wei Li will discuss his methodology and techniques for managing Urban Planning and Development Projects in the era of autonomous vehicles. He will discuss the implications of autonomous vehicles for urban planning, development, and community resilience. This includes a "Parking to Park" concept about how autonomous vehicles would contribute to community resilience. When autonomous vehicles reach a considerable market share, targeted parking spaces may be converted into parks which provide ecological services and thus reduce physical vulnerabilities. They can also be converted into housing and other amenities and reduce social vulnerabilities.

Meeting Details:
The Brazos Valley Project Managers (BVPM) group is a venue of PMI Houston. Our meetings are free & open to everyone and cover a wide range of topics such as leadership, communications, and organization techniques; beneficial across all industries. You do not need to be a member or a project manager.
Pizza, refreshments, and networking begin at 5:30PM.
The presentation will begin at 6:00PM

Speaker Bio:
Dr. Wei Li is Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Coordinator of the Master of Urban Planning Program at Texas A&M University. He is committed to the promotion of sustainability and health through smart investments on urban infrastructure. He has published numerous high-impact journal articles that assess economic and health impacts of various environmental attributes, such as green space, urban forestry, public transit, walkability, and bikeability. His research contributes insights for better investment decisions on sustainable transportation and green infrastructure.
Dr. Li has successfully obtained funding support from various agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Google Inc., W.M. Keck Foundation and state departments of transportation. Presently, he is Principal Investigator of an NSF-funded project to explore the behavioral impact of public transit. This is the first time that planners use confidential census microdata to examine behavioral changes caused by new transportation infrastructure. Dr. Li’s team has developed innovative methods to analyze this data and evaluate the impact of public transit on individuals’ travel and firms’ locational behavior. In March 2018, he received an NIH R01 grant (as one of three Principal Investigators) to evaluate the health and behavior impact of bus rapid transit.
Dr. Li teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in urban planning. He has designed and implemented several service-learning projects and has made significant curriculum changes to transportation planning courses (e.g., creating online courses) at Texas A&M. In 2017, he received the Outstanding Instructor Award from Texas A&M University. In 2018, he received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Association of Former Students of Texas A&M University.
Dr. Li has served as a reviewer for NSF and more than 20 reputable journals. He was Associate Editor for Environmental Science and Policy from 2013 to 2016. Dr. Li received his PhD-Planning, Policy and Design degree from the University of California, Irvine, MA-Planning degree from the University of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada), and Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Renmin University of China (Beijing, China).