contemporary urban communities within the United States. It examines the macro-level structural factors that have shaped the economic, political, and social environments of urban communities. It also provides an understanding of how these factors have shaped the lives, culture, opportunities, and values of various ethnic and racial groups residing in urban communities. Finally, it shows how the physical and spatial landscape of urban communities impacts urban residents' access to resources and opportunities.Why study urban communities?1. The world is becoming more urbanized; three-fourths of the population will reside in urban areas according to the United Nations.2. In the United States, the growth of cities and surrounding suburban areas is significantly changing our demographics.3. The growth of metropolitan areas ? in terms of space and population ? challenges both local and regional political and governance systems because diverse communities have varying needs development.4. We are constantly learning about the environmental consequences of how we live; we will need to find innovative ways to accommodate the metropolitan growth while building environmentally sustainable communities.Dr. Malo Andre Hutson's research focuses on community and economic development, urban sustainability and population health. He earned both his bachelor's degree in sociology and master's degree in city and regional planning at the University of California at Berkeley. He earned his doctorate in the School of Architecture and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is also a former Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar at the University of Michigan's Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health in the School of Public Health. Dr. Hutson is currently an assistant professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of California at Berkeley.

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