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is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University.
Daniel T. O’Brien is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University, and co-director of the Boston Area Research Initiative. His work focuses on the ways that researchers, policymakers, and practitioners can work together to leverage modern digital data (i.e., “Big Data”) to better understand and serve cities. His own work focuses on the behavioral and social dynamics of urban neighborhoods, particularly those that directly impact a place’s future upward (or downward) trajectory.
Authored by
Daniel T. O’Brien
September 8, 2022
Urban Planning and the Third Way: A Conversation with Daniel T. O’Brien
Smart cities allow a comparison of laissez-faire, centralized planning, and the Third Way of entrepreneurship and all other forms of positive social change.
Urban planning represents one kind of positive change effort that has suffered from excessive reliance on laissez-faire in some instances and centralized planning in other instances.