LEAF, MICHAEL

Associate Professor,

University of British Columbia

School of Community and Regional Planning

Michael Leaf is an Associate Professor in the School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP) at theUniversity of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada, a Research Associate of the UBC Centre for Human Settlements (CHS), and formerly the Director of the Centre for Southeast Asia Research (CSEAR) within UBC’s Institute of Asian Research. The primary focus of his work has been on urbanization and planning in cities of developing countries, with particular interest in Asian cities.  Since his original doctoral research (PhD Berkeley, 1992) on land development in Jakarta, Indonesia, Dr. Leaf has been extensively involved in urbanization research and capacity building projects in Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, China and Sri Lanka.  The courses he teaches at SCARP cover the theory and practices of development planning and the social, institutional and environmental aspects of urbanization in developing countries.