Alan Wiig

Alan Wiig is an Associate Professor of Urban Planning & Community Development at the University of Massachusetts Boston. His research spans urban studies, infrastructure studies, and smart urbanization, focusing on digital divides, speculative infrastructure projects, and socio-spatial contestation in global cities.

• Degrees:
  • PhD, Temple University
  • MA, San Francisco State University

Research Interests: Wiig examines intersections of smart city technologies, global infrastructure, and anti-democratic urban policies. His work emphasizes digital connectivity, speculative real estate, and transnational logistics corridors, particularly in Nairobi, London, and Philadelphia.

Publication Trends: Recent articles analyze 21st-century infrastructural shifts, smart urbanism in the Global South, and energy demands of mobile ICTs. His scholarship critiques top-down urban policies and highlights grassroots disruptions to technological systems.

Collaborative Work: Wiig collaborates with scholars like Jonathan Silver and Prince Guma, contributing to debates on China’s Belt and Road Initiative, data center geographies, and equitable urban futures.