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The built environment and natural landscape have always captured my attention and sparked curiosity. Having spent my childhood and young adult years in a Caribbean island surrounded by oceans and draped with a rich tropical foliage, yet within an automobile-dependent; sprawling; and often hostile and unattractive city, fueled my interests and concerns about human settlements, natural resources, and the relationships between these. This led me to studies and careers in Architecture, Urban Design, and City & Regional Planning. Professional regional and city planning experiences; and more that 15 years of practice as an architect and urban designer awakened further interests on both fixed and dynamic patterns in human settlements, eventually leading to doctoral studies in City Planning with a focus on sustainable urban mobilities and spatial analysis. My current research lies on the intersections between urban transportation planning and transit systems performance evaluation; land-use planning; urban-design; and travel behavior. Specifically I focus on the development of forecasting models and performance assessments of transit systems (e.g., bus, streetcar [tram], light-rail, bus rapid transit, metro) taking in consideration attributes of the built environment; planning and design for active transportation (pedestrian + bicycle); and their interactions as multimodal networks. A secondary area of research focuses on sustainable (a.k.a. Green, Ecological) urban design as viewed from a transdisciplinary Social-Ecological Systems (SES) lens. These are key topics and theoretical frameworks for understanding 20th and 21st century urbanization processes that will help in the crafting of policies and guidelines for ameliorating ensuing environmental crises, which emerge and are exacerbated by un-sustainable development patterns. The transformation of these patterns is strategically important for advancing more resilient and sustainable human settlements and mitigate negative externalities related to climate change. Research wise I seek to identify and better understand these patterns to inform more sustainable and resilient city planning, transportation systems, and design policies, particularly in issues such as urban and suburban adaptation and redevelopment; automobile-dependence reduction; and improvement in man-made and natural environment integration. In a nutshell, hoping to help our growing and rapidly urbanizing society move towards a more sustainable, resilient and dynamic homeostasis with the natural systems upon which our subsistence depends. Teaching wise I aim to guide and prepare graduate students to become effective Regional and City Planners as agents of positive social and environmental change, instrumental to the needed adaptations and transformations of cities in what is undoubtedly a critical time for humanity.
Areas of Interest and Research
Areas of Interest and Research
Dr. Ramos-Santiago is a City and Regional planner, architect, and social scientist whose research focuses on sustainable urban transportation and accessibility (mass transit, bicycling, walking), urban social-ecological studies, and ecological urban design. His transportation studies have been published in recognized peer-reviewed journals such as Transportation Reserach: Interdisciplinary Perspectives [TRIP] ; Transportation Research Record [ TRR ] - Journal of the Transportation Research Board of The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine ; Journal of Public Transportation ; Urban Studies ; Case Studies on Transport Policies ; and Mineta Transportation Institute. His ecological urban design and social-ecological system studies (SES) have been published in recognized environmental and design-oriented venues such as Ecology & Society and Sustainability. Dr. Ramos-Santiago has also published in other professional, planning, and design-oriented venues including Patrimonio (official publication of the Puerto Rico State Historic Preservation Office; PR-SHPO) and DoCoMoMo International-Proceedings (International Committee for Documentation and Conservation of Buildings, Sites and Neighbourhoods of the Modern Movement) and has received various academic and design awards, including the Congress for New Urbanism 2007 Charter Award for his academic research "Towards an Urban and Sustainable Puerto Nuevo: a Green Redevelopment of San Juan's Inner-Ring Suburbs".
Before entering academia Dr. Ramos-Santiago worked as a licensed city & regional planner and licensed architect in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the North Florida region (Tallahassee). As of September 1st, 2024, Dr. Ramos-Santiago will be assistant professor in transportation planning and equity at the University of Massachusetts School for the Environment, Boston campus (USA).
Recent Papers Accepted, In-press, and Under Review
Recent Papers Accepted, In-press, and Under Review
Ramos-Santiago, Luis Enrique and Derochers, Luke, (Published; Journal of Public Transportation) The Influence of Walking Accessibility on Station-to-Station Passenger Flow and its Interaction with Metropolitan Race/Class Segregation: A Case Study of Marta's Heavy-Rail Network, Atlanta (USA). Available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubtr.2024.100115
Ramos-Santiago, L.E., Rodriguez, Y.N., Shemirani, M., Morris, P. (Under Review). "Development and Pilot-Testing of a Comprehensive Walking Accessibility Indicator in Four New Deal’ Villages: ETCO ”
Kamyab, F. and Ramos-Santiago, L.E. (Under Review). "A Social-Ecological Systems Approach for Understanding Environmental Change in Los Angeles Outer-Ring Suburbs"
Ramos-Santiago, L.E. (Published; Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives). Enhancing Station-Level Direct-Demand Models with Multi-Scalar Accessibility Indicators - Available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2023.100834
Ramos-Santiago, L.E. (Published; Case Studies On Transport Policies). "Towards a Better Account and Understanding of Bus / Rapid-transit Interactions: The Case of Los Angeles" ; doi.org/10.1016/j.cstp.2021.06.005
Ramos-Santiago, L.E. (Published; Journal of Public Transportation). "Does Walkability Around Feeder Bus-Stops Influence Rapid-Transit Station Boardings?" ; doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubtr.2022.100026
Ramos-Santiago, L.E., Novales, M., and Varela-Garcia, F.A. (Published; Case Studies On Transport Policies). "Identifying and Understanding Determinants of Regional Differences in Light-Rail Patronage and Performance" ; doi.org/10.1016/j.cstp.2022.04.005
Towards a Better Account and Understanding of Bus / Rapid-transit Interactions: The case of Los Angeles
Published
Case Studies On Transport Policies
Does Walkability Around Feeder Bus-Stops Influence Rapid-Transit Station Boardings?
Published
Journal of Public Transportation
An International Comparative Study of the Transit Performance of Small Light-Rail Systems in Spain and the United States
Published
Case Studies on Transport Policies
Published
Transportation Research: Interdisciplinary Perspectives
Published
(above): Panoptic Accessibility
(below): Conditioned Walkability
Transportation Research: Interdisciplinary Perspectives
Under Review
New Deal Villages POIs
and
Walksheds
Working Papers
Working Papers
Ramos-Santiago, L.E. and Rodríguez, Y.N. (working paper). "A 20th Century Morphological and Typological Historiography of Federal Housing Projects and Policies in San Juan of Puerto Rico [1934-1966] : Neighborhood Design Experimentations, Metropolitan Restructuring, and Displacement"
An, M., Xuewu, C., Ramos-Santiago, L.E. (working paper). "Streetcar Development in China: A Reflection of Five Case Cities"
Map of MARTA's Metro Lines, CBD, Station Service Areas, and Median HH Income Levels. Credit: J.L. Derochers, M.Eng., MCP (Clemson University MCRP graduate)
Funded Research
Funded Research
"Intentions, Interactions, and Outcomes: a Case Study of Planners, Architects, Landscape Architects, and Developers of El Monte Renewal Project (San Juan, Puerto Rico)"; Funded by Clemson University - College or Architecture, Arts, and Humanities (CAAH); Faculty Research Development Program, Faculty Research Grant.
"Eleonor Roosevelt: An Investigation of a New Deal Village in the Tropics."; Funded by Clemson University - College or Architecture, Arts, and Humanities (CAAH); Faculty Research Development Program, Faculty Research Grant.
3-D Model Credits: Glenda Dias, B.Arch., MCP (Clemson University CPRED Program graduate)Viewpoints and Light/Shadow Rendering: Luis Enrique Ramos-Santiago, Ph.D. (Assistant professor). Software: SketchUp v.2017
Research Proposals
Research Proposals
RSA Early Career Grant Scheme (EC) PROPOSAL: "Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on LRT Transit Patronage and Operations: A Pre-Post Station-Level Comparative Study of Systems in Spain and the United States". Submitted 7/30/2020.
TRB Presentations
TRB Presentations
2019
2020
Sustainable Transportation-Related Publications
Sustainable Transportation-Related Publications
My transportation research interests focus on land-use and built-environment (LU.BE) influence on travel behavior, with special attention to urban mass-transit systems patronage. These include most collective modes (heavy-rail, light-rail, bus, streetcar (tram)) and multi-modal network combinations. I also research and teach planning and design for non-motorized modes (bicycle and walking), and their interactions within multi-modal systems.
In collaboration with local and international scholars I have been developing a strong multidisciplinary research work on modern-era streetcars (trams) in the United States, including the identification of key ridership determinants, comparative transportation performance analyses, station-level and station-to-station ridership modeling, and qualitative assessments of political-economic forces in their planning, financing, and implementation.
My preferred research methodology is quantitative, relying on multivariate direct-demand statistical models and have experience working with OLS and negative-binomial (NBREG) regression of station-level boardings, generalized multilevel structural equation modeling (ML-GSEM), and generalized multilevel crossed models of OD-pair trip flows.
I am also skilled in qualitative research methods (e.g. interviews and survey content analysis, archival, and document analyses) and actively pursue mixed-method studies for their added in-depth analytical potential to highlight key insights and policy recommendations.
A selection of peer-reviewed manuscripts related to transportation topics that I have lead and/or co-authored can be accessed below:
Left: Portland's downtown light-rail alignment vis-a-vis streetcar boarding pattern.
Social-Ecological Systems (SES) and Ecological Urban Design Publications
Social-Ecological Systems (SES) and Ecological Urban Design Publications
A secondary line of research interest, which overlaps with my sustainable urban transportation studies and draws from my previous academic and professional experiences in architecture / urban design / regional planning, relates to social-ecological studies of urban and suburban environments with a focus on green/gray area dynamics at parcel- and neighborhood-scale. A few manuscripts where I served as lead author and co-author are listed below:
Left: El Monte Norte condominium green areas and tree inventory (2011). Source: Inventario de Arboles - Condominio El Monte Norte (map), by "arquitectura: ramos + lozada, csp".
Utopian Neighborhood Models and Real-World Implementations - Publications
Utopian Neighborhood Models and Real-World Implementations - Publications
Before engaging SES and transport-related scientific investigations my research interests lay in city- and neighborhood-scale utopian spatial models, cases of real-world implementation (mostly hybridized or transmuted versions), and longitudinal studies of their evolution along social, economic, physical, spatial, and environmental lines.
I also produced some articles related to these topics for professional and cultural venues, some of which are listed below:
Left: Partial map of San Juan City showing three distinct mid-20th century inner-ring suburbs wich were inspired in their planning, layout, and architectural typologies by three distinct European and North-American neighborhood utopian models: 1- Garnier's 'Une Cite Industrielle'; 2-Clarence Perry's 'neighborhood unit' and Stein's 'aggregate-cell' district model; and 3- the Corbusian/Sertian modernist 'Superblock'. Sources: 'Patrimonio: revista oficial de la oficina estatal de conservación histórica de Puerto Rico - Oficina del Gobernador', Vol 2 (2011); Arch/Plan Luis Enrique Ramos-Santiago, Ph.D.
... and what it means for the resilience and sustainability of human settlements in this 21st Century...
... and what it means for the resilience and sustainability of human settlements in this 21st Century...
Left: three distinct mid-20th century suburban neighborhood units in San Juan City. Colors represent different architectural typologies (e.g. one-story single family home, duplex, townhomes, and permutations of each).
Graduate Courses Taught
Graduate Courses Taught
Land Use and Comprehensive Planning
Place Making for the Built Environment
(before: site planning)
Urban Design
Professional Planning Studio
Planning for Bicycle and Pedestrian Friendly Communities
ACSP 2019 Annual Conference Bike Tour Greenville, S.C.
Clemson University CRP graduate students during a bicycle facilities assessment along the Swamp Rabbit Trail.Greenville (SC)Fall '19
Clemson University CRP graduate students during field-trip assignment along the Swamp Rabbit Trail. Greenville (SC).Fall '19.
Roundtable Planning | Moderator
Roundtable Planning | Moderator
Urban Design students during site visit in Abbeville, SC
Professional Planning Studio students during field trip to Clemson Experimental Forest.Fall 2020
Urban Design students during site visit in Abbeville, SC
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