Profiles

Dr. Brian Doucet is the Canada Research Chair in Urban Change and Social Inclusion, and an Associate Professor in the School of Planning at the University of Waterloo. Originally from Toronto, he lived, studied and worked in the Netherlands for 13 years, obtaining his Ph.D. from Utrecht University in 2010. His research focuses on housing, transportation, gentrification, and displacement, with a particular emphasis on understanding the lived experiences of urban change. He currently leads four SSHRC-funded research projects.

Dr. Doucet is the co-author of Streetcars and the Shifting Geographies of Toronto(University of Toronto Press, 2022) and the co-editor of the four-volume series Global Reflections on Covid-19 and Urban Inequalities(Bristol University Press, 2021). He addition to publishing in scholarly journals, he regularly writes media articles and gives frequent radio and television interviews on a variety of urban topics.

Dr. Rebecca Mayers is a post-doctoral researcher working on the Everybody Bikes project with Dr. Brian Doucet in the School of Planning. She completed her Ph.D. in Community and Regional Planning at the University of British Columbia. Her research examines the structural and societal systems that impede access to safe and inclusive environments. In particular, she investigates three complementary areas: (i) equitable access and participation in active transportation, (ii) placemaking initiatives to promote social connectedness, and (iii) community engagement techniques for equitable involvement in public policy.