Rate My Professor John West

John West is the Department Chair of the Department of Urban Planning and Associate Professor of Urban Planning at Ball State University. He holds a PhD in Urban Planning from Columbia University (2016), an MPhil from Columbia University (2012), an MA in Urban Planning and Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago (2007), and a BA with double majors in Sociology and Modern Languages and Literature from Kenyon College (2003). West's research specializations encompass planning history and theory, land banking, tenant rights, low-income housing policy research, and program evaluation. His theoretical interests center on how ideas, technology, and local political action shape urban citizenship. As an engaged teacher-scholar, he founded and chairs the Muncie Land Bank, a planning agency dedicated to addressing property abandonment in economically depressed rust belt cities. West and his students have collaborated with non-profits to develop The Renter’s Book, a comprehensive resource offering information, sample forms, and procedural guidance to empower renters in understanding and advocating for their rights. They also initiated Indiana's first landlord-tenant mediation program through partnerships with Delaware County courts and community organizations.

West's scholarly contributions include several key publications, such as “The Rule of Choice: Frames and Overflows in the History of New York City Roadway Planning” in the Journal of Planning Education and Research (2021), which earned the Chester Rapkin Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning; “Land Banking regulation as rhetorical infrastructure: Planning as translation in the Muncie Land Bank” in Planning as Regulation, edited by Yvonne Rydin et al. (2021); “Land Bank Formation: Reorganizing Civic Capacity for Resilience” in The Routledge Handbook of Urban Resilience, edited by Michael A. Burayidi et al. (2020); and “Making Market Rationality: Material Semiotics and the Case of Congestion Pricing in New York City” in Urban Geography (2017). In 2024, he received the Fisher Governance Award from the Ball Brothers Foundation for his foundational role in the Muncie Land Bank. Through his applied research, community partnerships, and publications in leading journals, West advances urban planning practices focused on resilience, civic capacity, and equitable housing policies.