Irene Farah Rivadeneyra

Irene Farah Rivadeneyra is a Postdoctoral Research Associate and Specialized Faculty member in the Department of Urban & Regional Planning at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her work bridges urban politics, informality, and food systems, emphasizing critical analysis of power dynamics and spatial methodologies to address urban inequalities. Previously, she held positions at the Center for Spatial Data Science at the University of Chicago and the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development (CONEVAL) in Mexico City.

Education:

• Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning, University of California, Berkeley
• Master's in Social Sciences, University of Chicago
• B.A. in Political Science, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM)

Research Interests: Rivadeneyra's research focuses on understanding the complex interplay between urban development, street economies, and organizational power. She explores how regulatory frameworks and government interactions shape public space allocation and contestation, particularly for street vendors in Mexico City and San Francisco. Her work also examines the role of informal food outlets in urban food policies and uses innovative methods such as spatial accessibility metrics, mathematical demography, and remote sensing to analyze urban inequalities.

Awards: None explicitly mentioned in the provided text.

Advising & Grants: No current advisees or grant details listed. However, her research has involved collaborations with street vendors and associations, as well as interdisciplinary projects with institutions like Mexico's National Institute of Health.

Labs & Teams: Currently, she is developing teaching curricula integrating spatial analysis with critical theory. Her prior work included contributions to the Center for Spatial Data Science at the University of Chicago and collaborative efforts with CONEVAL and the NIH in Mexico.