Diane E. Davis
About
Contact
Diane E. Davis
Diane E. Davis is the Charles Dyer Norton Professor of Regional Planning and Urbanism at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. A former chair of the school’s Department of Urban Planning, she heads the Publics Domain of the GSD’s Master in Design Studies (MDes) program at GSD.
Since 2023 she has been a co-director of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) program titled Humanity’s Urban Future (HUF). HUF is a five-year global urban research initiative examining infrastructure, politics, climate, and equity in Calcutta, Toronto, Shanghai, Naples, Mexico City, and Kinshasa.
Davis’s work bridges urban sociology, historical sociology, political economy, and planning theory, influencing debates on urbanization, development, informality, post-conflict cities, violence, climate change and political as well as ecological transition.
Awards & Honors
2019
Remarkable Women in Transport
Named one of the top 50 women in transport by the Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI)
2018
Starr Family Prize for Excellence in Advising
Harvard College
2014
Outstanding Author Contribution Award, Emerald Literati Awards
For “How to Defeat a Megaproject: Lessons from Mexico City’s Airport Controversy
2011
Outstanding Author Contribution Award, Emerald Literati Awards
For “The Socio-Spatial Reconfiguration of Middle Classes...” in Political Power and Social Theory
2010
Bernard Brodie Prize
For best article in Contemporary Security Policy
2005
Best Book in Political Sociology
American Sociological Association
1989
Scholarly Achievement Award, New England Council of Latin Americanists (1990).
For “Divided over Democracy”
1984
Outstanding Woman Graduate Student
UCLA Department of Sociology
© Copyright 2026. All rights reserved.
Designed by Adi Meira
Diane E. Davis
About
Contact
Diane E. Davis
Diane E. Davis is the Charles Dyer Norton Professor of Regional Planning and Urbanism at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. A former chair of the school’s Department of Urban Planning, she heads the Publics Domain of the GSD’s Master in Design Studies (MDes) program at GSD.
Since 2023 she has been a co-director of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) program titled Humanity’s Urban Future (HUF). HUF is a five-year global urban research initiative examining infrastructure, politics, climate, and equity in Calcutta, Toronto, Shanghai, Naples, Mexico City, and Kinshasa.
Davis’s work bridges urban sociology, historical sociology, political economy, and planning theory, influencing debates on urbanization, development, informality, post-conflict cities, violence, climate change and political as well as ecological transition.
Awards & Honors
2019
Remarkable Women in Transport
Named one of the top 50 women in transport by the Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI)
2018
Starr Family Prize for Excellence in Advising
Harvard College
2014
Outstanding Author Contribution Award, Emerald Literati Awards
For “How to Defeat a Megaproject: Lessons from Mexico City’s Airport Controversy
2011
Outstanding Author Contribution Award, Emerald Literati Awards
For “The Socio-Spatial Reconfiguration of Middle Classes...” in Political Power and Social Theory
2010
Bernard Brodie Prize
For best article in Contemporary Security Policy
2005
Best Book in Political Sociology
American Sociological Association
1989
Scholarly Achievement Award, New England Council of Latin Americanists (1990).
For “Divided over Democracy”
1984
Outstanding Woman Graduate Student
UCLA Department of Sociology
© Copyright 2026. All rights reserved.
Designed by Adi Meira
Diane E. Davis
About
Contact
Diane E. Davis
Diane E. Davis is the Charles Dyer Norton Professor of Regional Planning and Urbanism at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. A former chair of the school’s Department of Urban Planning, she heads the Publics Domain of the GSD’s Master in Design Studies (MDes) program at GSD.
Since 2023 she has been a co-director of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) program titled Humanity’s Urban Future (HUF). HUF is a five-year global urban research initiative examining infrastructure, politics, climate, and equity in Calcutta, Toronto, Shanghai, Naples, Mexico City, and Kinshasa.
Davis’s work bridges urban sociology, historical sociology, political economy, and planning theory, influencing debates on urbanization, development, informality, post-conflict cities, violence, climate change and political as well as ecological transition.
Awards & Honors
2019
Remarkable Women in Transport
Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative
2018
Starr Family Prize for Excellence in Advising
Harvard College
2014
Outstanding Author Contribution Award, Emerald Literati Awards
For “How to Defeat a Megaproject: Lessons from Mexico City’s Airport Controversy
2011
Outstanding Author Contribution Award, Emerald Literati Awards
For “The Socio-Spatial Reconfiguration of Middle Classes...” in Political Power and Social Theory
2010
Best Article in Contemporary Security Policy
Bernard Brodie Prize
2005
Best Book in Political Sociology
American Sociological Association
1989
Scholarly Achievement Award, New England Council of Latin Americanists (1990).
For “Divided over Democracy”
1984
Outstanding Woman Graduate Student
UCLA Department of Sociology
© Copyright 2026. All rights reserved.
Designed by Adi Meira