The Bartlett’s Centre for Advanced Spatial Analytics (CASA) presented the Annual CASA Prize for Best Paper on Spatial Analysis to Ruth Nelson, PhD researcher at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), during the 32nd Annual GIS Research UK Conference (GISRUK 2024) in Leeds.
Since 2010, CASA has presented the award annually at GISRUK in memory of CASA alumnus, Sinesio Alves Junior, known as Junior to colleagues. The award recognises the best paper in spatial analysis, with priority given to early career researchers presenting highly innovative work in theoretical, methodological or applied contexts.
Ruth won the prize for her paper ‘Bringing Moral Clarity to Urban Planning: Developing Data-Driven Metrics of Spatial Justice for Neighbourhood Accessibility’.
The judges were impressed by the ambition of the project which seeks to explicitly incorporate questions of spatial justice into spatial analysis. Ruth’s work encourages spatial analysis scholars to consider the values embedded in applied models and offers methods to evaluate the impact of spatial analysis on different conceptualisations of justice. The research contributes to methodological reflection in spatial analysis.
Commenting on the impact of Junior’s life, Prof Mike Batty, said:
Junior (Sinesio Alves Junior) was the life and soul of the party in the early days of CASA. He first got to know us in 2001 when he worked for Thames Water in Reading. After a few years, he became a full-time research student acquiring a coveted scholarship from the Brazilian government. His work was on spatial segregation in Brazilian cities and informal development in Latin America. Junior’s illness was a great shock to everyone, and he was survived by his wife and young child. He will long be remembered for his humour, kindness and wit. Celebrating Junior’s life through this award reminds us of CASA’s objective – to make cities better places in which to live.
Ruth was presented with the award on the final day of the 2024 GISRUK conference.
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