Specializations: community development; public policy; urban planning and healthy communities; resident participation; community-based research methodologies; and immigrants and civic institutions.

Summary of research interests: Professor González’ research and teaching are at the nexus of community and city planning, focusing in working-class Latino immigrant communities. This includes the impact of participatory action research on urban and community health policy; ethno-cultural and class policy analysis of urban plans; meaning and use of urban environments; resident participation and grass roots organizations; and how “healthy communities” projects may be best planned and evaluated.

Brief biography: :: Dr. González received his Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning (2006) and Master's in Social Ecology (2002) from UC Irvine. His two BAs in Psychology and Chicano Studies (1997) are from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles. Dr. González has received several awards, such as an “Academic Award” by the Orange County American Planning Association and the UCI Cota Robles Graduate Fellowship. He has consulted and given invited presentations, including: The California Endowment Building Healthy Communities Initiative; St. Joseph Health System Foundation’ California Community Building Initiative; California State University Fullerton and Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala’s Forming Healthy Communities Initiative; University of California, Irvine’s Critical Planners Colloquium; and Loyola Marymount University’s Urban Lecture Series.

Professor González is a first generation college graduate and the son of Mexican immigrant parents. He is a native of Santa Ana where he is involved in research and volunteer capacities.

Publications:

González, R. E. and Lejano, P.R. 2009. New Urbanism and the Barrio. Environment and Planning A 41 (12): 2946-2963

González, R.E., Lejano, P.R, Vidales, L, Conner, F.R., Kidokoro, Y., Fazeli, B., and Cabrales, R. 2007. Participatory Action Research for Environmental Health: Encountering Freire in the Urban Barrio. Journal of Urban Affairs, 29 (1):77-100

González, R. E. 2007. Book Review of Frameworks for Policy Analysis: Merging Text and Context, by Lejano, P. R. Frontera Norte (July-Dec 2007).