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Research Interests
Research Interests
I am a scholar with a particular expertise in community change and politics in urban Chinatowns in the United States. My past publications have analyzed these issues across different Asian American spaces, including work on gentrification politics in Los Angeles Chinatown; the history of the Chinese Hospital in San Francisco Chinatown; and the growth of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities across Orange County, California.
More generally, my scholarship focuses on urban and ethnic community politics among Asian American and immigrant communities in California, with an emphasis on the use of interdisciplinary and qualitative approaches. Through my work, I examine (1) how the relationship between space and racialization shapes a politicized ethnic identity and community formations and (2) how the different modes of place-based political engagement of marginalized communities contribute to and are a response to urban restructuring. I am especially interested in applying interpretivist and critical frameworks to understand placemaking practices, particularly rhetoric and narratives, and how that relates to the complexities of asserting local power and control in community-based equitable development practices. I am in conversation with scholarship across different fields, including Ethnic Studies, Urban Studies, Urban Planning, Public Health, Public Administration, Sociology, History, and Political Science.
My scholarship also addresses the application of anti-racist and intersectional frameworks to inform urban planning, public administration, and public policy pedagogy and practice. In addition to my scholarly publications, I am dedicated to public scholarship to build capacity for local communities and to translate my academic research to a wider audience for policy change.
Los Angeles Chinatown and Gentrification
Los Angeles Chinatown and Gentrification
June 2024, University of California Press
The Power of Chinatown: Searching for Spatial Justice in Los Angeles is an ethnographic examination of community politics and gentrification in Los Angeles Chinatown since the 1970s.
It is one of the first academic books to examine the contemporary history and community dynamics in Los Angeles Chinatown.
Follow @power_lachinatown for updates!
Use UCPSAVE30 for a 30% discount when you purchase direct from UC Press!
Reviews: California History (2025, Vol. 102, Issue 2); Chinese Studies International (2024, Vol. 28); Los Angeles Times (June 12, 2024)
Research article published in 2025 in the Journal of Urban Affairs.
Book chapter published in 2022 in The Urban Question: Gentrification, Displacement, and Alternative Futures.
Research article published in 2022 in Urban Affairs Review.
Asian American Spaces & Community Organizations
Asian American Spaces & Community Organizations
Co-authored with Dr. Linda Trinh Vô. Report produced in 2018 for Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Orange County.
Research article published in 2022 in Public Integrity.
Book chapter published in 2013 in the Handbook of Asian American Health.
Asian American Perspectives to Policy Implementation and Pedagogy
Asian American Perspectives to Policy Implementation and Pedagogy
Co-authored commentary with Drs. C. Aujean Lee and Nina Flores published in 2021 in the Journal of Planning Education and Research.
Co-authored practitioner essay with Drs. Shayda Kafai and Jocelyn A. Pacleb published in 2024 in AAPI Nexus.
Research brief prepared for the California State Library CRB Nexus published in 2025.
All Publications & Writing
All Publications & Writing
Hom, L.D. (2025). Planning for the future of Chinatowns: A systems approach to assessing impacts and needs. Sacramento: California Research Bureau Nexus. (Link)
Hom, L.D. (2025) Revitalizing Chinatown for a new generation: The community politics of the business improvement district. Journal of Urban Affairs, 47(2) 510-526. DOI:10.1080/07352166.2023.2192939 (advance online publication 2023)
Hom, L.D. (2024) The Power of Chinatown: Searching for Spatial Justice in Los Angeles. Oakland: University of California Press. ISBN: 9780520391222
BJH Advisors and Sojourner Consulting. (2024). Proposed 76ers Arena Community Impact Analysis. Philadelphia, PA: City of Philadelphia and Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation. (Link) (Credited co-author with Sojourner Consulting)
Chinatown Associations: Anchors of the Community Virtual Exhibit. (2024). Contributor for Chinese Historical Society of Southern California.
Hom, L.D., Kafai, S., & Pacleb, J.A. (2024) Femme labor(ing) for Asian American Studies/Ethnic Studies: Women of color faculty reflect on the first years of the AB 1460 implementation. AAPI Nexus: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Policy, Practice, and Community, 21(1&2), 49-68. (Link)
Lee, C., Flores, N. & Hom, L.D. (2024). Learning from Asian Americans: Implications for the field of planning. Journal of Planning Education & Research, 44(2), 535-540. DOI: 10.1177/0739456X211006768 (advance online publication 2021)
Hom, L.D. (2023). Review of Koreatown, Los Angeles: Immigration, Race, and the American Dream by S.S-H. Lee. Contemporary Sociology, 53(1), 63-65. DOI: 10.1177/00943061231214609z
Hom, L.D. (2022). The racial formation of Asian American non-profit work in Orange County, California. Public Integrity, 24(6), 600-613. DOI: 10.1080/10999922.2022.2040794
Hom, L.D. (2022) Displacing Los Angeles Chinatown: Racialization and development in an Asian American space. (2022). In E.R. Gonzalez, M. Zuniga, A.C. Hernandez, & R. Torres (eds.), The Urban Question: Gentrification, Displacement, and Alternative Futures (pp. 60-72). New York: Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9780429341809
Hom, L.D. (2022). Symbols of gentrification? Narrating displacement in Los Angeles Chinatown. Urban Affairs Review, 58(1), 196-228. DOI: 10.1177/1078087420954917 (advance online publication 2020)
Urban Affairs Review Top Read Article in 2023 and 2024
Hom, L.D. (2021). The Diverse Perspectives of Symbolic Displacement: Unpacking Gentrification in an Urban Chinatown. Guest author for Urban Affairs Forum.
Rendón, M.G., Aldana, A., & Hom, L.D. (2020). Children of Latino immigrants framing race: Making sense of criminalisation in a colour-blind era. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 46(11), 2407-2425, DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2018.1486181 (advance online publication 2018)
2020 American Sociological Association, Latina/o Sociology Section Distinguished Contribution to Research Article Award (Honorable Mention)
2021 Society for the Study of Social Problems Kimberlé Crenshaw Outstanding Article Award
Hom, L.D. (2019). The Chinese Exclusion Act in Perspective. Guest author for Chinese Historical Society of Southern California News’n’Notes.
Vo, L.T., & Hom, L.D. (2018). Transforming Orange County: Assets and needs of Asian Americans & Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. Los Angeles, CA: Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Orange County. (Link)
Wishes for Chinatown. (2018). Guest editor for WAPOW Community Magazine, Issue 4.
Hom, L.D. (2016). Review of The Politics of Belonging: Race, Public Opinion, and Immigration by N. Masuoka & J. Junn. Journal of Asian American Studies, 19(1), 133-135. DOI: 10.1353/jaas.2016.0002
Hom, L.D. (2013). The Chinese Hospital of San Francisco: How the early San Francisco Chinese mobilized to build the Chinatown community. In G.J. Yoo & M.N. Le (eds.), Handbook of Asian American Health (pp. 353-362). New York: Springer Publishing Co. DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4614-2227-3_26
Sim, S.C., Zhou, X.D., Hom, L.D., Chen, C., & Sze, R. (2011). Effectiveness of pre-counseling genetic education workshops at a large urban community health center serving low-income Chinese American women. Journal of Genetic Counseling, 20(6), 593-608. DOI: 10.1007/s10897-011-9397-2
Hom, L.D., & Kwon, S. (2009). Complementary and alternative medicine. In E.W. Chen & G.J. Yoo (eds.), Encyclopedia of Asian American Issues Today (pp. 301-306). Santa Barbara: Greenwood Publishing Group. (Link)
Gabby, L., Hom, L.D., Michel, T., & Scales, K. (2007). Another Wrongful Eviction. Op-Ed for Columbia Daily Spectator, September 10, 2007.
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