Christopher Higgins

Assistant Professor
Room HL512 (UTSC); Room SSH5034 (UTSG)
(416) 208 - 4871

Campus

Fields of Study

Areas of Interest

Spatial analysis and GIScience, Accessibility and travel behaviour, Built environment and urban morphology. 

Biography

I am a quantitative geographer whose research is focused on the relationship between form and function in cities. Using the tools and methods of GIS/geographic data science, I capture and model the physical form and infrastructure of the city, its urban networks and the flows of people, goods, and information they facilitate, and the use of the city as an area or volume for engaging in activities. By providing a window into how the dynamic state of the city impacts and is impacted by social, environmental, and economic processes, my work seeks to better inform policy and planning interventions and promote more sustainable urban outcomes.

Publications

Higgins, C. D. (2021). Hiking with Tobler: Tracking Movement and Calibrating a Cost Function for Personalized 3D Accessibility. Findings, 28107. (https://doi.org/10.32866/001c.28107)

Bruyns, G. J., Higgins, C. D., & Nel, D. H. (2021). Urban volumetrics: From vertical to volumetric urbanisation and its extensions to empirical morphological analysis. Urban Studies, 58(5), 922-940. (https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0042098020936970)

Paez, A., Higgins, C. D., & Vivona, S. F. (2019). Demand and level of service inflation in Floating Catchment Area (FCA) methods. Plos one, 14(6), e0218773. (https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218773)

Higgins, C. D. (2019). A 4D spatio-temporal approach to modelling land value uplift from rapid transit in high density and topographically-rich cities. Landscape and urban planning, 185, 68-82. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2018.12.011)

Education

PhD, McMaster University