Dr. Jeasurk Yang (양재석)
Geographer of slums and urban poverty
Post-doc at Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy (MPI-SP)
Bochum, Germany
Dr. Jeasurk Yang (양재석)
Geographer of slums and urban poverty
Post-doc at Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy (MPI-SP)
Bochum, Germany
Welcome to my personal website!
Hi! I am a slum geographer traveling urban poor settlements in the world—both physically and remotely.
Trained in urban political ecology, I began my academic journey by living in urban slums and interviewing slum residents to explore the multidimensional nature of poverty. These field-based experiences continue to inspire my current work, which leverages artificial intelligence and satellite imagery to examine the spatial dimensions of marginalization. Whether on the ground or from above, I challenge the invisibility of marginalized urban spaces and to generate knowledge that supports more inclusive and sustainable urban futures.
My current research at MPI-SP centers on monitoring a wide range of marginalized urban spaces across the Global South using satellite imagery. Applying cutting-edge computer vision techniques, I have mapped economic development in low-income countries (Nat. Commun., 2023), communities vulnerable to climate risk (Clim. Risk Manag., 2024), the expansion of informal settlements (arxiv, 2024)., and deprived conditions in refugee camps. One of the most striking results is the uncovering of widespread urban slum expansion in low-income countries during the COVID-19 pandemic (manuscript under review).
I hope my research and the techniques that I learned can contribute to improving conditions in urban slums. I love to hear from any of you interested in my topics.