Cristina Nearing

As an urban planner, I am interested in community planning and sustainable city development. I have experience in developing plans, implementing initiatives, and working with communities, non-profits, government agencies, and municipalities to create more equitable and inclusive cities. My background includes completing projects focused on housing, food security, access, transportation, equity and policy reform through project development and field work.

I have a background in urban planning research and studying barriers to inclusion. As an urban planner at the City of Toronto on the Planning, Research and Analytics team, my primary responsibility was as a supervisor of the Toronto Employment Survey (TES), an annual business census involving the collection and analysis of primary data from in-person surveys of around 70,000 establishments. The scale of this program was such that I gained a broad set of skills ranging from training and managing up to 25 research trainees to data analysis, creating maps and report writing.

I have a Honours Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Geography (minors in Geographic Information Systems, and Asian Geographies) from the University of Toronto. I am currently completing my MSc in Urban Science, Planning and Policy at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD).