Gian Claudia Sciara is Assistant Professor of Community and Regional Planning at The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture. Sciara researches and writes about transportation policy, planning, and decisionmaking institutions, particularly with respect to infrastructure finance and to links between transportation and regional growth. Metropolitan institutions are a longstanding focus of her work.
Sciara has worked extensively on a range of transportation policy and planning issues in organizations across the public, private, nonprofit, and education sectors. Her research focuses on the structure and performance of metropolitan planning organizations; the potential for integrated land use and transportation planning to reduce automobile reliance and associated GHG emissions; and federal and state government roles in funding 21st century transportation systems. Sciara’s contributions to transportation scholarship and practice have been recognized by the Council of University Transportation Centers and the Association of Environmental Planners, and she serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of the American Planning Association and Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment.
Prior to joining The University of Texas at Austin, Sciara held a research appointment at the University of California-Davis Institute of Transportation Studies. Before that, she served in various roles as a transportation planning and policy professional at Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas (now WSP), the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Transportation Alternatives, and the Deutscher Bundestag.
Sciara’s recent publications include: “A Seat at the Table? Transit Representation in U.S. Metropolitan Planning”; “Implementing Regional Smart Growth without Regional Authority: The Limits of Information for Nudging Local Land Use”; “Allocating Transportation Revenues to Support Climate Policies in California and Beyond”; and “Metropolitan Transportation Planning: Lessons from the Past, Institutions for the Future.”
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Areas of Expertise
- Public finance
- Urban planning
- Growth management
- Institutional design
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Current Positions
- Assistant Professor, The University of Texas at Austin, School of Architecture
- Editorial Board, Journal of the American Planning Association
- Editorial Board, Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment
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Past Positions
- Professional Researcher, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California-Davis
- Senior Planner, Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas
- Communications, Tri-State Transportation Campaign
- Legislative Aide, German Bundestag
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Education
- Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, College of Environmental Design
- M.A., University of California, Los Angeles, School of Public Affairs
- B.A., Columbia University, History, German Studies