Nazanin Gaffari

Nazanin Gaffari is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF), bringing over a decade of interdisciplinary experience spanning architecture, urban planning, and community engagement across international contexts including the United Nations Development Programme and grassroots organizations.

Her academic credentials include:

• Ph.D. in Urban Planning and Public Policy from the University of Texas at Arlington (2021)
• MA in Urban Design from Tehran Azad University (2010)
• B.Arch from Tehran Azad University (2006)

Gaffari's research critically examines racialized, classed, gendered, and sexualized biases within contested urban landscapes through the lenses of feminist geography and social anthropology. She investigates how neoliberal governance regimes shape inclusionary/exclusionary strategies in public space design, programming, and management, while exploring arts-driven community development as a pathway to advance social, racial, and climate justice. Her work emphasizes JEDI principles in the built environment and the political economy of shrinking cities.

Her scholarly recognition includes the prestigious Social Science Research Council fellowship supporting community-centered research.

• Social Science Research Council Arts Research with Communities of Color Fellow

Gaffari's extensive research portfolio spans UNDP projects on informal settlements in Iran, slum upgrading initiatives with the Asia-Pacific Working Group, and UTA collaborations on cultural district engagement and neighborhood gentrification. Her teaching expertise encompasses graduate-level landscape architecture methods, community design theory, and urban planning studios across institutions in the US and Iran.