Laura Schmahmann

laura.schmahmann at berkeley.edu

PhD Candidate
City and Regional Planning
University of California Berkeley
United States

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Welcome! I am a PhD Candidate in City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley. My dissertation explores the political economy of warehouse development across California.

My research fields include economic geography (specifically the location of industries and agglomeration economies) and the political economy of local and regional economic development. I am interested in understanding both inter- and intra-regional inequality and how it is shaped by the geography of jobs.

While at UC Berkeley, I have held research positions at the UC Berkeley Labor Center, Urban Displacement Project and in the Department of Geography. Prior to undertaking my PhD, I worked as a city planner in Sydney, Australia. I hold a Bachelor of Planning (Honours Class 1) and Master of Philosophy (Planning and Urban Development) both from the University of New South Wales.

I will be graduating in May 2025 and I am currently on the academic job market.


Image description: aerial of a neighbourhood with a large warehouse on the left adjacent to a residential community on the right, in Rialto, California. Image source: Google Earth, 2023

Plain Academic