Lawrence D. Frank
Lawrence Douglas Frank | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 14, 1961 |
| Education | University of Arizona: Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (1985) University of Washington: Masters of Science in Civil Engineering Transportation Studies (1990) University of Washington: Ph.D. of Urban Design and Planning (1993) |
| Occupations | Urban Planner, Consultant, Researcher, Educator |
| Employer(s) | Washington State Department of Transportation: Transportation Planning Specialist IV Georgia Institute of Technology: Associate Professor University of British Columbia: Professor and Bombardier Chair Urban Design 4 Health: Founder and President University of California San Diego: Professor |
| Website | https://urbandesign4health.com/ |
Lawrence Douglas Frank (April 14,1961) is an American and Canadian urban planner, researcher, and educator. Frank helped popularize the term walkability through his work, which established quantitative links among urban design, time spent driving in a car versus walking and biking, taking public transit, and public health, especially obesity. Frank has been a university professor for over 30 years and founded and is president of Urban Design 4 Health. He consults with government agencies, NGOs, and decision makers to predict travel, greenhouse gases, chronic disease, and economic impacts of land use and transportation policies.
Frank has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles, led over $20 million in primary research, co-authored two books, and contributed four book chapters. Frank's work has been cited 58,699 times, he was the top-cited scholar in transport policy, and was the fourth most-cited scholar in urban planning. He had the second-highest h-index among urban planning faculty globally, and was ranked by Clarivate as being in the top 1% of highly cited researchers in the social sciences.
Frank has served on the board of AmericaWalks since 2016. He was named by the University of Arizona's College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture as Alumnus of the Year and featured in a biographical video.