PhD candidate student pursuing interdisciplinary research combining transportation and urban planning

Koh has a master’s degree in geoinformatics from the University of Seoul, Korea and a master’s degree in urban planning from the University at Buffalo. For 15 years, he has worked on international urban land projects. 

The title of his position was Land Administration Specialist in the World Bank and Korea Land and Geospatial Informatix Corporation, a Korean government organization. Through improving land tenure and land administration systems across the Caribbean and East Africa, he identified an overlapping area where transportation plays a crucial role in shaping urban land projects. 

Koh’s research lies at the intersection of transportation and urban planning, focusing on how inter-polycentric urban farms can emerge from traditional monocentric urban areas. Although understanding polycentricity remains a complex subject for urban planners, he explores transitional urban models of inter-polycentricity, emphasizing the role of commuting cost functions in enhancing interconnectivity between urban areas. 

Under Dr. Jongmin Shim’s guidance, associate professor in the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, this research aims to assess how reductions in commuting costs influence the development of inter-polycentricity. He believes that it is timely research in the era of transportation innovations, such as autonomous vehicles and diverse alternative transit modes. Koh hopes to continue contributing to international development.