Igor Vojnovic - Research

My main areas of research focus on urban (re)development processes, involving a range of issues, including infrastructure, urban design, and socio-demographic, economic, physical, environmental and health impacts of urban form. My interest is in both suburbanization and urban revitalization/gentrification, and within various urban contexts, extending across North America, Europe and Asia. I have also studied urban and regional government strategies, including local taxation, service delivery, and municipal restructuring. This research has been published in journals such as Environment and Planning A, Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, Urban Geography, Urban Studies, Ecological Economics, Health & Place, Urban Affairs Review, Applied Geography, Transportation Research Part D, Journal of Urban Design, GIScience and Remote Sensing, Environmental Conservation, Journal of Cultural Heritage, PLOS ONE, and the Journal of Urban Affairs.

Igor Vojnovic (Ed.) 2013. Urban Sustainability: A Global Perspective. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press. 714 pp.

Igor Vojnovic, Amber Pearson, Asiki Gershim, Geoffrey DeVerteuil and Adriana Allen (Eds.) 2019. Handbook of Global Urban Health. New York: Routledge. 864 pages.

A site visit to Shinjuku, Tokyo (JP).

Being part of the China-U.S. relations: Trade, Diplomacy and Research in Beijing (China) in 2005, visiting the Great Wall at Badaling.

Sample publications

Refereed Articles:

MURP/MSc student who I supervised.
** PhD student who I supervised.
*** Graduate student whose committee I served on as a member but not as advisor.

***Kreuze, A., Grady, S., and Vojnovic, I. (Forthcoming.) "Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Exposure to Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI) Toxicity Weighted Concentrations: Michigan Census Tracts, 2008-2017." Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences.

**Chang, J., Lin, Z., Vojnovic, I., Qi, J., Wu, R. and Xie, D. 2023. "The role of physical and social environments in place attachment in a transitional city, Guangzhou, China." Landscape and Urban Planning. Vol. 232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2022.104680

**LeDoux, T. and Vojnovic, I. 2022. “Relying on their own hands: Examining the causes and consequences of supermarket decentralization in Detroit.” Urban Geography. Vol. 43. No. 7. Pp. 1007-1035.

**Lee, J., Vojnovic, I., and Grady, S.C. 2022. "What lies beyond the built environment?" Exploring "walkability" across the Detroit region." Applied Geography. Vol. 141. https://doi.org/10/1016/j.apgeog.2022.102670

***Liu, W., Ligmann-Zielinska, A., Frank, K, Grady, S.C., and Vojnovic, I. 2021. “High School Student’s Friendship Network, Physical Activity, and Residential Locations: A Stochastic Actor Based Model.” Computational Urban Science.

Vojnovic, I., Ligmann-Zielinska, A., and **LeDoux, T. 2020. “The Dynamics of Food Shopping Behavior: Exploring Travel Patterns in Low-Income Detroit Neighborhoods Experiencing Extreme Disinvestment using Agent-Based Modeling.” PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243501.

***Koh, K., Elder, T., Grady, S., Darden, J. and Vojnovic, I. 2020. “Explained and Unexplained Racial and Regional Obesity Prevalence in the United States.” Ethnicity & Health. Vol. 25. No. 5. Pp. 665-678.

**Ye, M. and Vojnovic, I. 2020. “The diverse role of women in shaping Hong Kong’s landscape of gentrification.” Urban Affairs Review. Vol. 56. No. 2. Pp. 369-414.

**Grevstad-Nordbrock, T. and Vojnovic, I. 2019. “Heritage-Fueled Gentrification: A Cautionary Tale from Chicago.” Journal of Cultural Heritage. Vol. 38. Pp. 261-270.

***Koh, K., Grady, S., Darden, J. and Vojnovic, I. 2018. “Adult Obesity Prevalence at the County Level in the United States, 2000-2010: Downscaling Public Health Survey Data using a Spatial Microsimulation Approach.” Spatial and Spatio-temporal Epidemiology. Vol. 26. Pp. 153-164.

**Lee, J., Vojnovic, I. and Grady, S. 2018. “The ‘transportation disadvantaged’: Urban form, gender, and automobile versus non-automobile travel in the Detroit region.” Urban Studies. Vol. 55. No. 11. Pp. 2470-2498.

***Koh, K., Grady, S., Vojnovic, I. and Darden, J. 2018. “Impacts of Federally Funded State Obesity Programs on Adult Obesity Prevalence in the United States, 1998-2010.” Public Health Reports. Vol. 133. No. 2. Pp. 169- 176.

**LeDoux, T., Vojnovic, I., Thomas, J. and Pothokuchi, K. 2017. “Standing in the Shadows of Obesity: The Local Food Environment and Obesity in Detroit.” Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie. Vol. 108. Issue 5. Pp. 605-624.

**Eckert, J. and Vojnovic, I. 2017. “Fast Food Landscapes: Exploring Restaurant Choice and Travel Behavior for Residents Living in Lower Eastside Detroit Neighborhoods.” Applied Geography. Vol. 89. Pp. 41-51.

Reese, L., **Eckert, J., Sands, G. and Vojnovic, I. 2017. “‘It’s Safe to Come, We’ve Got Lattes’: Development Disparities in Detroit.” Cities: The International Journal of Urban Policy and Planning. Vol. 60. No. 1. Pp. 367-377.

**Kotval-K., Z. and Vojnovic, I. 2016. “A Socio-ecological Exploration into Urban Form: The Environmental Costs of Travel.” Ecological Economics. Vol. 128. Pp. 87-98.

*Knapp, A. and Vojnovic, I. 2016. “Ethnicity in Gateway Cities: The Asian Experience in Houston.” Journal of Urban Affairs. Vol. 38. No. 3. Pp. 344-369. (Vojnovic I. is corresponding author.)

***Koh, K., Grady, S. and Vojnovic, I. 2015. “Using Simulated Data to Investigate the Spatial Patterns of Obesity Prevalence at the Census Tract Level in Metropolitan Detroit.” Applied Geography. Vol. 62. Pp. 19-28.

**Kotval-K., Z. and Vojnovic, I. 2015. “A Socio-economic Analysis into Environmental Burdens and Travel Behavior: A Detroit Regional Context.” Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment. Vol. 41. Pp. 477-491.

**Ye, M., Vojnovic, I. and Chen, G. 2015. “The Landscape of Gentrification: Exploring the Diversity of ‘Upgrading’ Processes in Hong Kong, 1986-2006.” Urban Geography. Vol. 36. No. 4. Pp. 471-503.

Vojnovic, I. 2014. “Urban Sustainability: Research, Policy, Politics and Practice.” Cities: The International Journal of Urban Policy and Planning. (Current Research on Cities). Vol. 41. Sup. 1. Pp. S30-S44.

**LeDoux, T. and Vojnovic, I. 2014. “Examining the Role between the Residential Neighborhood Food Environment and Diet among Low-Income Households in Detroit, Michigan.” Applied Geography. Vol. 55. Pp. 9-18.

Vojnovic, I., **Kotval-K, Z., **Lee, J., **Ye, M., **LeDoux, T., ***Varnakovida, P. and Messina, J. 2014. “Urban Built Environments, Accessibility, and Travel Behavior in a Declining Urban Core: An Exploration of the Detroit Region.” Journal of Urban Affairs. Vol. 36. No. 4. Pp. 225-255.

Vojnovic, I. and Darden, J. 2013. “Racial Conflict, Intolerance, and Distortions in Urban Form: Lessons for Sustainability from the Detroit Region.” Ecological Economics. Vol. 96. Pp. 88-98.

**LeDoux, T. and Vojnovic, I. 2013. “Going Outside the Neighborhood: The shopping patterns and adaptations of disadvantaged consumers living in the lower eastside neighborhoods of Detroit, Michigan.” Health & Place. Vol. 19. No. 1. Pp. 1-14. (One of the 5 most highly cited papers published in Health & Place, 2013-2016)

*Knapp, A. and Vojnovic, I. 2013. “Rethinking the Growth Machine: How to Erase a Chinatown from the Urban Core.” Urban Geography. Vol. 34. No. 1. Pp. 53-85. (Vojnovic I. is corresponding author.)

Vojnovic, I., **Lee, J., **Kotval-K, Z., *Podagrosi, A., ***Varnakovida, P., **LeDoux, T. and Messina, J. 2013. “The Burdens of Place: A Socio-economic and Ethnic/Racial Exploration into Urban Form, Accessibility, and Travel Behavior in the Lansing Capital Region, Michigan.” Journal of Urban Design. Vol. 18. No. 1. Pp. 1- 35.

Griffith, D., Vojnovic, I. and Messina, J. 2012. “Distances in Residential Space: Implications from Estimated Metric Functions for Minimal Path Distances.” GIScience and Remote Sensing. Vol. 49. No. 1. Pp. 1-30.

*Podagrosi, A., Vojnovic, I. and Pigozzi, B. 2011. “The Diversity of Gentrification in Houston’s Urban Renaissance: From Cleansing the Urban Poor to Super-gentrification.” Environment and Planning A. Vol. 43. No. 5. Pp. 1910-1929. (Vojnovic I. is corresponding author.)

*Podagrosi, A. and Vojnovic, I. 2008. “Tearing Down Freedmen’s Town and African-American Displacement in Houston: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Houston’s Urban Revival.” Urban Geography. Vol. 29. No. 4. Pp. 371-401. (Vojnovic I. is corresponding author.)

Vojnovic, I. 2007. “Government and Urban Management in the 20th Century: Policies, Contradictions, and Weaknesses of the New Right.” GeoJournal. Vol. 69. No. 4. Pp. 271-300.

Vojnovic, I. 2006. “Building Communities to Promote Physical Activity: A Multi-Scale Geographical Analysis.” Geografiska Annaler Series B. Vol. 88. No. 1. Pp. 1-24.

Vojnovic, I., Jackson-Elmoore C., Summers, J. and Bruch, S. 2006. “Principles, Practices, and Tools in Michigan for Promoting Increased Physical Activity and Non-Motorized Travel.” Cities: The International Journal of Urban Policy and Planning. Vol. 23. No. 1. Pp. 67-90.

Vojnovic, I. 2003. “Governance in Houston: Growth Theories and Urban Pressures.” Journal of Urban Affairs. Vol. 25. No. 5. Pp. 589-624.

Vojnovic, I. 2003. “Laissez-faire governance and the archetype laissez-faire city in the USA: Exploring Houston.” Geografiska Annaler Series B. Vol. 85. No. 1. Pp. 19-38.

Vojnovic, I. 2000. “The transitional impacts of municipal consolidations.” Journal of Urban Affairs. Vol. 22. No. 4. Pp. 385-417.

Vojnovic, I., and Poel, D. 2000. “Provincial and municipal restructuring in Canada: assessing expectations and outcomes.” Canadian Journal of Regional Science. Vol. 23. Pp. 1-6.
(Published in French under the title “La restructuration provinciale-municipale au Canada: une évaluation des attentes et des resultants.” Canadian Journal of Regional Science. Vol. 23. Pp. 7-12).

Vojnovic, I. 2000. “Shaping Metropolitan Toronto: a study of linear infrastructure subsidies.” Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design. Vol. 27. Pp. 197-230.

Vojnovic, I. 2000. “Municipal restructuring, regional planning, and fiscal accountability: designing municipal tax zones in two Maritime regions.” Canadian Journal of Regional Science. Vol. 23. No.1. Pp. 49-72.

Vojnovic, I. 1999. “The fiscal distribution of the provincial-municipal service exchange in Nova Scotia.” Canadian Public Administration. Vol. 42. No. 4. Pp. 512-541.

Vojnovic, I. 1999. “The environmental costs of modernism: an assessment of Canadian cities.” Cities: The International Journal of Urban Policy and Planning. Vol. 16, No. 5. Pp. 301-313.

Vojnovic, I. 1998. “Municipal Consolidation in the 1990s: an analysis of British Columbia, New Brunswick; and Nova Scotia.” Canadian Public Administration. Vol. 41. No. 2. Pp. 239-283.

Vojnovic, I. 1995. “Intergenerational and intragenerational equity requirements for sustainability.” Environmental Conservation. Vol. 22. No. 3. Pp. 223-228.