The Michael Breheny Prize 2024

Abstract

The Michael Breheny Prize is awarded annually for the most innovative paper or papers in Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science during the preceding year. It is awarded in recognition of the contribution of Michael Breheny who was a co-editor of the journal from 1989 until his untimely death in 2003.

The recipients of the prize are chosen by the Editors: Michael Batty, Andrew Crooks, Seraphim Alvanides, Daniel Arribas-Bel, Linda See, and Levi Wolf. The criteria used by the selectors is based on the papers published in Volume 50, 2023 and the Board aim to select a paper or papers that include early career researchers. This year the paper chosen for the award is:

Leonardo Nicoletti, Mikhail Sirenko, and Trivik Verma (2023) Disadvantaged communities have lower access to urban infrastructure, Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 50, Issue 3, March, 831-849, https://doi.org/10.1177/23998083221131044

Footnotes

Leonardo Nicoletti is an award-winning data journalist at Bloomberg News. He works with data and visual storytelling to report on issues at the intersection of technology and society. Leonardo’s work on generative AI bias has been cited in reference to official policy frameworks about AI risk from national governments, international bodies such as the United Nations, and NGOs like Amnesty International. His work is referenced by tech executives of major companies like Microsoft, taught in university curriculums and books about AI, cited by dozens of academic research papers, and used as a main reference for AI-best practices at institutions like IBM and MIT. Before entering journalism, Leonardo conducted research at the TU Delft Computational Urban Science and Policy (CUSP) Lab and the MIT Senseable City Lab. His research with Trivik Verma and Mikhail Sirenko on accessibility to urban services has since been used to develop one of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Indicators. lnicoletti3@bloomberg.net

Mikhail Sirenko is a researcher at Delft University of Technology and a Disaster Resilience Analyst at the Global Facility for Disaster Risk Reduction, part of the World Bank. His work merges data science and simulation modelling to address critical urban challenges, such as climate change, pandemics, and socio-economic inequalities. Leading interdisciplinary teams, he has developed decision-support tools for policymakers at both local and European levels. Mikhail’s research aims to make human settlements resilient and liveable in uncertain future scenarios, emphasising equitable policies, accessibility, and robust decision-making under deep uncertainty. His work balances scientific rigour with practical solutions, reflected in his open-source tools and visualisations. m.sirenko@tudelft.nl

Trivik Verma is an Associate Professor at the School for Policy Studies and the Bristol Digital Futures Institute (BDFI), University of Bristol. Trivik’s research focuses on cities, inequalities, and justice. He studies various challenges of urbanisation such as segregation, inequities in access and wellbeing, transport and energy poverty, and climate-related vulnerabilities. In his new role at BDFI, he will continue to explore the role of data and machine learning, participatory planning, and climate action in spatial planning practices. He is an editor at The Geographical Journal, an open access journal of The Royal Geographical Society, and supports EDI initiatives for the society’s quantitative methods research group. Alongside academia, Trivik also leads remote expeditions for National Geographic and the Smithsonian Institute where high school students learn about climate change, anthropology, journalism, and governance. t.verma@tudelft.nl