Alan Cander

Dr. Cander has taught at both the graduate and undergraduate level at the Bloustein School.  He has taught the required Survey of Planning Law Principles course for MCRP students and the required Public Policy Formation course for MPP students.  At the undergraduate level, he has taught U.S. Housing Policy, Introduction to Planning, Policy, and Health, Community Development, Urban and Municipal Management, Research Methods, and Principles of Public Policy.

Dr. Cander’s primary research interest is urban redevelopment.  He is particularly concerned with how, in a changing regulatory climate that has attempted to place limits on blight declaration and the use of eminent domain, public and private entities in older or declining cities collaborate in both transparent and non-transparent ways to revalorize contested urban space.  In short, what factors affect the political economy of land assembly and the means by which redevelopment entities package land for redevelopment purposes? How do these entities address the impacts of redevelopment on existing neighborhoods? In redevelopment-impacted communities, what roles do public participation and community opposition play in shaping the outcomes of redevelopment efforts?

Prior to beginning his doctoral studies, Dr. Cander worked as an urban planner at the private sector and governmental levels for approximately 16 years in Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Wisconsin. In these positions, his work encompassed a wide variety of projects and activities including master plan preparation, zoning administration, subdivision review, borough incorporation, small-scale downtown streetscape efforts, and municipal visioning workshops.