Bon Woo Koo
Dr. Bon Woo Koo (first name: Bon Woo; last name: Koo) is an assistant professor in the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Toronto Metropolitan University. He received his PhD and his master’s degree in city and regional planning from Georgia Institute of Technology. He also holds another master’s degree in landscape architecture from Seoul National University, South Korea, and a bachelor’s degree in interior design from Kookmin University, South Korea.
His current research is focused on the following three areas:
- Urban design and landscape architecture for the health and well-being of urban residents, with a particular focus on encouraging active living.
- Equity of environmental amenities in urban spaces, such as favorable urban design features and urban tree canopy.
- Innovative GIS techniques and data science tools for urban research.
His works have been published in prominent journals such as Landscape and Urban Planning, Journal of Planning Education and Research, Environment and Behavior, and Health and Place. He also co-authored chapters in the Handbook of Planning Support Science and Urban Informatics and Future Cities. He served on a technical expert panel for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), sharing his expertise to help leverage big data for CDC’s health surveillance and policy evaluation. His work has been presented at academic conferences, such as the Association of Collegiate School of Planning, Urban Affairs, International Urban Planning and Environment Congress, Georgia Planning Association Annual Conference, and Active Living Research Annual Conference, and in invited talks at Georgia Tech, Universitas Gadjah Mada in Indonesia, CDC, Physical Activity Policy Research and Evaluation Network, and Atlanta Regional Commission.
Teaching interests
- Active and healthy cities
- Data-driven urban design
- Geographic information systems
- Quantitative methods for urban planners
- Urban analytics
- Koo, B., Guhathakurta, S., Botchwey, N., & Hipp, A. (2023), Can good microscale pedestrian streetscapes enhance the benefits of macroscale accessible urban form? An automated audit approach using Google Street View images, Landscape and Urban Planning, 237, 104816.
- Koo, B., Guhathakurta, S., and Botchwey, N. (2022), Development and Validation of Automated Microscale Walkability Audit Method (external link) . Health and Place, 73.
- Koo, B., Guhathakurta, S., & Botchwey, N. (2022), How Are Neighborhood and Street-Level Walkability Factors Associated with Walking Behaviors? A Big Data Approach Using Street View Images. Environment and Behavior, 54(1), 211-241.
- Zhang, G., Guhathakurta, S., Sanford, J., & Koo, B. (2021). Application for Locational Intelligence and Geospatial Navigation (ALIGN): Smart Navigation Tool for Generating Routes That Meet Individual Preferences (external link) . In Urban Informatics and Future Cities (pp. 191–209). Springer International Publishing.
- Guhathakurta, S., Zhang, G., & Koo, B. (2020). Spatial Modelling and Forecasting (external link) . In S. C. M. Geertman and J. Stillwell (Eds.), Handbook of Planning Support Science (pp. 132–152). Edward Elgar Publishing.
- Koo, B., Boyd, N., Botchwey, N., & Guhathakurta, S., (2019). Environmental Equity and Spatiotemporal Patterns of Urban Tree Canopy in Atlanta (external link) . Journal Planning Education and Research, 39(4), 532–532.