Dr. Carlos J. L. Balsas, AICP is a Lecturer in Planning at the Belfast School of Architecture and the Built Environment at Ulster University (U.K.). He is an urban and regional planner trained in Europe and the USA with graduate degrees (MRP and PhD) in Regional Planning from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a Licentiate degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Aveiro, Portugal. He has also taught and conducted research at the University at Albany, the State University of New York (SUNY), and the Arizona State University (ASU), Tempe (U.S.). Carlos Balsas has chaired and/or served on Masters and PhD advisory committees and performed professional service in the U.S., Brazil, and Portugal. Several of his advanced planning studios and report-directed courses have won professional planning awards in Arizona and New York. Carlos Balsas authored the Award-winning book Walkable Cities—Revitalization, Vibrancy, and Sustainable Consumption (SUNY Press, 2019).

Dr. Neale Blair is a Senior Lecturer in Planning at Ulster University and is Associate Head of the Belfast School of Architecture and the Built Environment. He is an expert in spatial planning policy and practice. He is also an active member of Ulster’s Built Environment Research Institute (BERI) and the Centre for Research on Property and Planning (RPP). His research interests include spatial governance and analysis; urban planning pedagogy; planning education in developing countries; visualization of data to inform stakeholder engagement and decision making; and the use of technology to enhance participation in planning processes. Neale has fifteen years of research experience in cross-border spatial planning, working with stakeholders in the public, private, and community sectors. His recent publications include topics such as a social-ecological resilience agenda for urban design and 3D technology for enhancing resilience in the built environment.