About

Jae Hong Kim is a Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy at the UCI School of Social Ecology. His research primarily focuses on local and regional economic development, land use change, and the interactions between these two critical processes. His academic interests also include understanding how institutional environments influence urban and regional development processes, particularly economic development and land use, as well as exploring methodological innovations to better model and simulate the dynamics of economic and physical land development processes. His work aims to support a broad range of planning activities and policy making/implementation. His research has been supported by various organizations including the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Justice, University of California Transportation Center, Hellman Fellows Fund, UCI Institute of Transportation Studies, and UCI Metropolitan Futures Initiative.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Geography
• Engineering
• Cartography
• Civil engineering
• Political Science
• Transport engineering
• Remote sensing
• Criminology
• Telecommunications
• Archaeology
• Business
• Environmental planning
• Psychology

Selected publications

• A Study on the Development of a VR Art Gallery for Artists with Developmental Disabilities

  Journal of Basic Design & Art · 2025-06-30

  article1st authorCorresponding

  본 연구는 발달장애 아티스트들이 지닌 예술적 잠재력을 사회와 연결하고, 시공간의 제약을 극복할 수 있는 온라인 전시 플랫폼의 가능성을 탐색하고자 한다. 발달장애 아티스트는 특유의 감각과 표현력을 바탕으로 고유한 예술 세계를 펼치고 있지만, 언어적 제약, 물리적 접근성 부족 등으로 인해 작품 발표와 시장 진입에 어려움을 겪고 있다. 특히 코로나19 팬데믹 이후 비대면 문화가 급속히 확산되면서, 예술의 소비 및 향유 방식 역시 온라인 중심으로 전환되었고, 이에 따라 장애 예술 분야에서도 새로운 플랫폼의 필요성이 대두되었다. 본 연구는 부산 동아대학교 산업디자인학과와 발달장애 예술단체 ‘이지투게더’ 간 산학협력으로 추진된 VR 아트갤러리 구축 사례를 중심으로, 디지털 전시 환경이 장애 예술의 표현성, 접근성, 지속 가능성을 어떻게 확장할 수 있는지를 실증적으로 검토하였다. 연구는 원화의 디지털화 및 상업적 활용 가능성, VR 플랫폼 설계 및 구축, 3D 모델링, 웹사이트 UX/UI 디자인 등을 중심으로 진행되었으며, 한국 송원아트센터, 스위스 아트 바젤, 일본 에이블 아트 컴퍼니와의 비교 분석을 통해 실질적 벤치마킹 방향도 제시하였다. 그 결과, VR 아트갤러리는 단순한 기술 적용을 넘어, 발달장애 아티스트의 자기표현 기회를 넓히고, 작품 유통의 새로운 경로를 열며, 비장애인 관람객과의 감성적 접점을 강화하는 등 예술 활동의 외연을 다층적으로 확장하는 플랫폼으로 자리 잡을 수 있었다. 더 나아가, 지속 가능한 디지털 전시 인프라의 가능성을 제시하고, 사회적 인식 전환과 가치소비를 유도하는 문화적 촉매로 기능함으로써, 향후 공공 예술 정책, 포용적 디자인 전략, 사회적 예술 생태계 구축에 이정표를 제시한다. 향후에는 사용자 경험 기반의 데이터 수집, 다양한 장애 유형의 참여 확대, 법적·윤리적 제도 마련을 통해 보다 포괄적이고 지속 가능한 플랫폼으로 발전시킬 필요가 있다.

  PublisherDOI

• Information Barriers and Housing Tenure Choice: Does Local Knowledge Matter?

  International Regional Science Review · 2025-09-13

  articleSenior author

  This paper examines how local knowledge about migration destinations affects housing tenure decisions for movers in the US, particularly long-distance movers–those who have moved more than 50 miles–while considering other channels of information. Using data from the American Community Survey from 2012 to 2019, we find that among long-distance movers, geographic distance seems to lower the likelihood of owning their next home, while social connectedness can mitigate this effect considerably. This result is robust across different empirical specifications. Our analysis also shows that these channels of information may have significantly different implications for short-distance movers’ housing tenure choices compared to long-distance movers.

  PublisherDOI

• Dissolving Districts: Did Property Values Fall When California Terminated Its Redevelopment Agencies?

  Economic Development Quarterly · 2024-08-25 · 1 citations

  article

  California pioneered the use of tax increment finance (TIF) to promote redevelopment, but in 2012 all redevelopment agencies in the state were simultaneously (and unexpectedly) dissolved, essentially eliminating TIF-supported redevelopment in California. This paper uses hedonic methods to analyze changes in residential property values associated with the dissolution of TIF districts in five cities in northern Orange County. If TIF is necessary for (re)development in the TIF districts, then the unexpected elimination of TIF-funded redevelopment should have reduced property values. The authors find that, within the study area, the elimination of TIF was not associated with decreases in residential values within TIF districts, and quality-adjusted home prices in and near former TIF districts continued to grow at a rate at least comparable to citywide rates in the aftermath of the dissolution. These findings raise the concern that TIF may function as a tool for revenue capture before the TIF districts reach the anticipated expiration dates. In the absence of significant regulatory safeguards, TIF may be used to capture revenue from overlapping governments, instead of serving as an engine of economic development.

  PublisherDOI

• Persistent racial diversity in neighbourhoods across the United States: Where does it occur?

  Population Space and Place · 2024-04-29 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract While there is a long history of racial change in the United States, and how this plays out within neighbourhoods, a key recurring question is whether some neighbourhoods are able to achieve and maintain racial diversity, or whether they simply transition to dominance by a new racial group. We test and find evidence of 1631 neighbourhoods across the United States from 1980 to 2020 that exhibit persistent racial diversity (PRD), and assess where this PRD occurs. Our analysis shows that PRD neighbourhoods (PRDNs) are likely to be present in counties with more economic opportunities–that is, counties with higher socioeconomic status (SES). PRDNs themselves, however, tend to be relatively lower SES neighbourhoods within relatively higher SES counties, suggesting that affordable locations surrounded by more economic opportunities may have served as an environment in which diversity can persist over a long period of time in the United States.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Analysing non-linearities and threshold effects between street-level built environments and local crime patterns: An interpretable machine learning approach

  Urban Studies · 2024-09-27 · 8 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Despite the substantial number of studies on the relationships between crime patterns and built environments, the impacts of street-level built environments on crime patterns have not been definitively determined due to the limitations of obtaining detailed streetscape data and conventional analysis models. To fill these gaps, this study focuses on the non-linear relationships and threshold effects between built environments and local crime patterns at the level of a street segment in the City of Santa Ana, California. Using Google Street View (GSV) and semantic segmentation techniques, we quantify the features of the built environment in GSV images. Then, we examine the non-linear relationships and threshold effects between built environment factors and crime by applying interpretable machine learning (IML) methods. While the machine learning models, especially Deep Neural Network (DNN), outperformed negative binomial regression in predicting future crime events, particularly advantageous was that they allowed us to obtain a deeper understanding of the complex relationship between crime patterns and environmental factors. The results of interpreting the DNN model through IML indicate that most streetscape elements showed non-linear relationships and threshold effects with crime patterns that cannot be easily captured by conventional regression model specifications. The non-linearities and threshold effects revealed in this study can shed light on the factors associated with crime patterns and contribute to policy development for public safety from crime.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Exploring variations in local land use regulations in the U.S.: What matters and at what level?

  The Annals of Regional Science · 2024-04-09 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A Study on the Determinants and the Amounts of Public"s Willingness-to-pay to Reduce the Risk of Fire in Multi-use Facilities

  The Korean Journal of Local Government Studies · 2023-11-30

  article1st authorCorresponding

  본 연구는 1.5경계양분선택형 조건부가치측정법을 이용하여 다중이용시설 화재위험 저감에 대한 국민의 지불의사 결정요인과 지불의사금액을 추정한 최초의 실증적 연구이다. 본 연구의 추정결과에 따르면, 여성의 지불의사가 유의하게 높고, 자녀수가 많을수록, 가구소득이 높을수록 지불의사가 유의하게 높은 것으로 추정되었으며, 연령과 교육수준은 통계적으로 유의하지 않은 것으로 나타났다. 또한, 화재 관련 상호의사소통 수준이 높을수록, 화재경험이 있을 경우, 개인 및 기관 신뢰수준이 높을수록 지불의사가 유의하게 높은 것으로 추정되었다. 가구당 월평균 지불의사금액은 모형에 따라 3,220~3,283원으로 추정되었고, 연간 총 지불의사금액은 7,867~8,017억 수준으로 2020년 기준 화재 재산피해액 6,005억보다 많은 수준이며, 대형화재 재산피해액의 6배를 상회하고 있다. 이와 같은 연구결과는 국민들의 다중이용시설 화재위험 저감을 위한 지불의사가 향후 소방안전 재정부족액 추정치를 상회하고 있다는 점에서 적어도 소방안전이 확보된다면 국민들은 추가 세금 부담에 대한 지불의사가 있음을 간접적으로 보여준다고 할 수 있다.

  PublisherDOI

• Business Churning and Neighborhood Instability: Is There a Link?

  International Regional Science Review · 2023-01-12 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Much of the work concerning economic dynamism has focused on its aggregate-level implications, while there have been rising concerns about business displacement at the community or neighborhood level. In this article, we analyze this important (restructuring) process using detailed establishment-level business information and explore how it manifests itself across space within the Los Angeles—Long Beach—Santa Ana, CA Urbanized Area. We also investigate the association between business churning and neighborhood-level housing vacancy rates to understand the implications of dramatic changes in the business landscape. We find that housing vacancies are more likely to increase in urban neighborhoods with a higher establishment death rate, while the creation of new businesses can mitigate the association to some extent. We also detect substantial variation across decades not only in the spatial distribution of business churning but also in its association with housing vacancy rates, suggesting the evolving nature of business dynamics and their implications.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Do employment centers matter? Consequences for commuting distance in the Los Angeles region, 2002–2019

  Cities · 2023-12-08 · 16 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Beyond visual inspection: capturing neighborhood dynamics with historical Google Street View and deep learning-based semantic segmentation

  Journal of Geographical Systems · 2023-07-12 · 8 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• John R. Hipp

  University of California, Irvine

  19 shared

• Sugie Lee

  9 shared

• Geoffrey J. D. Hewings

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  8 shared

• Donghwan Ki

  The Ohio State University

  6 shared

• Nicholas J. Marantz

  University of California, Irvine

  5 shared

• Xiangyu Li

  Hangzhou Dianzi University

  4 shared

• John Preston

  4 shared

• Brian Deal

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  4 shared

Education

• Ph.D.

  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Awards & honors

• Hellman Fellows Fund