After an international search, the Urban Affairs Association (UAA) has announced that Kathe Newman (Rutgers University-New Brunswick) and Ben Gerlofs (University of Hong Kong) have been appointed the new Book Review Editors of the Journal of Urban Affairs. The journal, published by Routledge | Taylor & Francis Group, has a global editorial team led by Dr. Bernadette Hanlon (The Ohio State University).
The appointment follows the distinguished service term of Dr. David Varady and Dr. Leah Holstein (University of Cincinnati), who acted as Book Review Editors for more than a decade. Under their leadership, the Book Review section of the journal grew in both content and reputation. UAA is grateful for their dedication to uplifting urban scholarship, and supporting countless colleagues.
Dr. Newman is a Professor in the Urban Planning and Policy Development Program at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy and Director of the Ralph W. Voorhees Center for Civic Engagement. Dr. Newman holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Graduate School and University Center at the City University of New York. Her research explores urban change, what it is, why it happens, and what it means. Her research has explored affordable housing and housing insecurity, processes of financialization, governance, gentrification, foreclosure, urban redevelopment, food security, and community participation. Dr. Newman has published articles in Urban Studies, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Urban Affairs Review, Shelterforce, Progress in Human Geography, Urban Geography, Housing Studies, GeoJournal, and Environment and Planning A. She is an associate editor at Environment and Planning A.
Dr. Gerlofs is an Assistant Professor of Human Geography and a Research Fellow of the Urban Systems Institute at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), where he also serves as Deputy Head of Department (for Teaching and Learning), Director of Undergraduate Studies, and Inaugural Director of the Cartographica Laboratory and Library. A broadly-trained human geographer and interdisciplinary social scientist, his research focuses on urban change across spatiotemporal scales, often in comparative perspective, and has addressed such issues as urban governance and social mobilization, gentrification and neighborhood change, the politics of aesthetics, and the commodification of nature. He is currently working on projects based in Hong Kong, Mexico City, Singapore, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Shanghai, and he has previously conducted research in Chicago and New York. His first monograph, Monstrous Politics: Geography, Rights, and the Urban Revolution in Mexico City, was published by Vanderbilt University Press in 2023.
Dr. Gerlofs also serves on the board of the Royal Geographical Society-Hong Kong, and is an active member of the American Association of Geographers (AAG), the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP), and the Urban Affairs Association (UAA). He holds a Ph.D. in Geography from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and has previously taught at Queens College of the City University of New York (Department of History), Dartmouth College (Department of Geography), and Princeton University (Program in Latin American Studies). At HKU, he teaches courses in human geography, urban geography, cultural geography, urban social justice, and advanced topics in urban research.