Huijoo Shon
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My research journey has spanned East and Southern Africa, driven by interests in environmental justice and health equity. With a focus on settlement environments, my work seeks to understand the relationships between urbanization and health across African countries. I explore spatial configuration and temporal dynamics of infrastructures in the water, sanitation, and energy sectors, exploring how the environments relate to households and communities.
My research encompasses institutional and behavioural changes needed to foster healthy and resilient communities. In particular, I value the voices of residents, indigenous knowledge, and collaborative efforts in community. Current projects integrate data from Earth observation, field investigations, and household surveys to understand settlement environments and their impacts on health in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.
Research Interests: Environmental Planning; Water and Sanitation; Energy; Health; Climate Adaptation; Urbanism in the Global South
Education
Present. Ph.D. Candidate, Dept. of City and Regional Planning, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
2022 M.C.P., Graduated School of Environmental Studies, Seoul National University, KOR
2018 B.S., Dept. of Geography, Konkuk University, Seoul, KOR
Paper
Multilevel social vulnerability and urban health in sub-Saharan Africa: Implications for adaptation across household, community, and city levels. 2025. Sustainable cities and society, 126, 106368. Paper (Shon, H.)
Urbanicity and child health in 26 sub-Saharan African countries: Settlement type and its association with mortality and morbidity. 2024. Social Science & Medicine, 340, 116401. Paper (Shon, H.)
Spatial pattern of aid allocation in the early 21st century: Evidence from 38 sub-Saharan African countries. 2024. Papers in Regional Science, 103 (3), 100026. Paper (Shon, H., Lee, H., & Kim, B.)
Spatial and temporal patterns of energy aid and poverty in four African countries: Focusing on distributive and recognition energy justice. 2024. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 192, 114261. Paper (Lee, H., & Shon, H.)
Project
2025. Infrastructure as the urban commons in low-income settlements in Nairobi, Kenya: Perceptions and behaviors of sharing water, sanitation, and energy, CFK Africa, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Peacock Fellowship)
2025. Community-based urban design for shared space and infrastructure in African cities: Practices of planning, designing, and managing shared spaces and utilities, Department of City and Regional Planning, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Webb Design Fellowship)
2024. Residential vulnerability, climate anomalies and child health in 32 sub-Saharan African countries: Focusing on water, sanitation, housing, and energy from a climate justice perspective. World Vision Korea (Grant for Graduate Student).
2023-2024. Reconceiving community-driven development as spatial practice in the realm of environmental justice: The case of grassroots movements in the Global South, Research report on the Global Seed Grant program and grassroot organizations. The Korea Safety Health Environment (SHE) Foundation (Contract, PI).
2022-2023. Residential environment and its geographical patterns in small and medium cities in East African countries (Kenya and Ethiopia), Taejae Research Foundation of City Research Inst., KOR (Grant for Graduate Student).
2022-2023. Community development toward climate justice and health equity: A case study of vulnerable settlements in Ethiopia and Kenya. Field research in Ethiopia and Kenya, Seoul National University (Grant for Graduate Student).
Contact Detail
hjshon@unc.edu
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