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Chris is a DIY urban designer, planner, skateboarder, and journalist who works with youth and unhoused communities to expand access to public space and rights to dwell in the city. His academic interests center on concepts of social-spatial justice in urban design to reimagine regulations, policing strategies, and land uses to be less hostile. His research and advocacy attempt to expand access to public spaces for play (youth) and shelter (unhoused) through DIY activations and public policy influence.

As a public space advocate, he has worked with youth in West Los Angeles to preserve recreational public space under threat of private redevelopment at the . As a freelance journalist with , he has worked with people living in vehicles to produce spatial narratives that humanize increased vehicular homelessness in Los Angeles County. From this ongoing work, he has collaborated with to expand access to skateparks for youth through DIY activations and partnered with to adaptively reuse underused parking lots as safe, secure overnight places for people to sleep in their vehicles, access services, and transition into permanently affordable housing. His current research explores 1) the social, political, and economic dynamics that affect and, ultimately, halt affordable housing redevelopment and 2) the effectiveness of Safe Parking Programs in transitioning people from vehicles to affordable housing compared to other interim housing programs.  

In the future, his research and teaching interests will continue to focus on theories of social-spatial justice and urban design; public space regulation and design; expanding rights to the city for youth and unhoused communities; and mixed methods approaches (i.e., geospatial, photography, storytelling). Chris has taught and lectured at UCLA and Cal Poly Pomona. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Urban Environments from New York University, a Master of Science in Urban Planning from Columbia University, and a PhD in Urban Planning from UCLA.