Ryan Centner

Dr. Ryan Centner is an Associate Professor of Urban Geography at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), within the Department of Geography and Environment. His research focuses on urban transformation, place inequality, migration, and aviation infrastructure, with expertise spanning Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and the Pacific Northwest. He holds a PhD in Sociology from UC Berkeley and has taught at institutions including Tufts University and universities in Buenos Aires, Cape Town, and Salamanca.

Dr. Centner’s key research themes include aviation infrastructure, urban geographies, migration, and place promotion. His work examines the interplay between built environments and societal conditions, with projects on expatriate communities in Buenos Aires, Dubai, and London, as well as urban planning in Cascadia. He co-leads the LSE field course in Portland, focusing on urban development, housing, and settler-colonial histories.

His recent publications include studies on revanchist populism in Brazil, urban cultural policy in Istanbul and Beirut, and queer geographies in Dubai. He currently co-edits the Oxford Handbook of Urban Sociology and serves on editorial boards for journals like Nordic Journal of Urban Studies and Contexts. Dr. Centner is also a passionate urban photographer, using visual methods to explore spatial narratives.

He advises PhD students researching topics such as urban masculinities in Bénin, feminist geographies in Buenos Aires, and diasporic investments in Nigeria. His teaching spans urban sociology, globalization, and qualitative research methods, emphasizing fieldwork and experiential learning.