About Ariam Torres-Cordero
Ariam L. Torres-Cordero, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Planning at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. He earned his Ph.D. in Regional Planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 2022 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Columbia World Projects at Columbia University in New York in 2023. Also in 2023, the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) awarded him the Barclay Gibbs Jones Award for Best Dissertation in Planning.
He currently leads and collaborates on projects funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and Sea Grant Puerto Rico. These include initiatives focused on the adaptation and use of dynamic flood inundation maps in Puerto Rico, strengthening local capacity to reduce disaster risk, and research on fish landing centers (villas pesqueras) across the Puerto Rican archipelago. Through his research and community-engaged work, Torres-Cordero seeks to bridge scientific knowledge and local knowledges to advance culturally appropriate, just, and sustainable planning practices that address socio-environmental challenges and support climate adaptation.
Areas of Expertise
Community Development, Environmental Planning and Resource Management, Land Use Planning and Governance, Regional Planning, Anti-racism PlanningSelected Publications
Torres-Cordero, A. L. (2024). Bomba planning and the pursuit of a just recovery. Planning Theory, 14730952231225816. , Torres-Cordero, A. L. (2022). The struggle for a just recovery: Insurgent planning, transnational networks, and colonial legacies in post-disaster Puerto Rico (Doctoral dissertation)., Torres-Cordero, A. L. (2020). What Is Possible? Policy Options for Long-term Disaster Recovery in Puerto Rico. Centro Journal, 32(3)., Santiago, L., Loomis, J., Ortiz, A. V., & Torres-Cordero, A. L. (2016). Valuing urban tropical river recreation attributes using choice experiments. Environ. Natural Resources Res., 6, 128-135.
Recent Courses Taught
PLAN 6076: Planning History and Theory, PLAN 6603: Fundamentals of Plan Making
PLAN 6607: Analysis Techniques for Environmental Planning, PLAN 6996: Practicum
Assistant Professor