Professor Trivik Verma

PhD (ETH, Zurich)

  • Professor of Just Urban Futures
Publications
Google Scholar
  • Personal website
  • BlueSky

    • Academic Career

    • 2025–present: Professor of Just Urban Futures, Loughborough University
    • 2024–2025: Reader in Urban Futures, Bristol Digital Futures Institute, University of Bristol
    • 2023–2024: Honorary Associate Professor, University of Liverpool
    • 2019–2024: Co-Director, Centre for Urban Science and Policy, TU Delft
    • 2020–2022: Director, AI Lab, TU Delft
    • 2023–2024: Associate Professor of Geospatial Planning for Just Cities, TU Delft
    • 2019–2023: Assistant Professor, TU Delft
    • 2017–2019: Senior Postdoctoral Fellow, ETH Zurich
    • 2015–2017: Chief Data Scientist, Head of Publishing & Co-Founder, The Outdoor Journal and Voyage
    • 2011–2012: Research Scientist, TNO (Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research)

    Professional Responsibilities (a few select roles)

    • 2024–present: Editor, The Geographical Journal (Royal Geographical Society – with IBG)
    • 2024–present: Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Quantitative Methods Research Group (QMRG) (RGS-IBG)
    • 2024: Guest Editor, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A (Special Issue: Co-creating the Future)
    • 2019–present: National Geographic Teaching Fellow
    • Programme Committees: GISRUK; Dutch Research Council – ICT Open; Urbanism Next Europe Conference; ACM SIGKDD Data-driven Humanitarian Mapping Workshop; ACM Hypertext & Social Media Conference
    • Mentor to early-career researchers at Loughborough, University of Bristol, and TU Delft

    Prizes and Awards

    • TU Delft Teaching Excellence Award (2021)
    • Outstanding Programme Committee Member, ACM Hypertext (2020)

    Trivik’s research examines the intersection of urban science, spatial justice, and climate transitions, focusing on how cities can become more equitable, sustainable, and resilient. He investigates inequalities in access to housing, mobility, energy, and other public services, alongside the governance models and policies that support just urban futures.

    His work combines computational modelling, spatial data science, and participatory methods to analyse complex socio-technical systems. Using approaches such as network analysis, geospatial analytics, simulation modelling, and foresight techniques, he integrates quantitative evidence with qualitative insights from community engagement, deliberative workshops, and speculative design.

    Professor Verma leads and contributes to major international projects, including the HORIZON Europe DUST: Democratising Just Urban Transitions, the Dutch Research Council’s CIVILIAN: Citizen Voices in Climate Action, and open education initiatives on decolonising data science. He also developed CityAccessMap, an open-access platform for measuring urban accessibility, which has been adopted by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network to track progress on equitable access to services worldwide.

    Recent research topics include inequalities in accessibility and mobility, open-source and digital twins’ ecosystems for urban planning that are owned and stewarded by communities, participatory foresight for constructing just mobility futures, and mapping the spatial inequalities of climate risk and energy transitions. His commitment to open science ensures that datasets, methods, and tools are accessible to policymakers, educators, and communities worldwide, including to those pursuing collective and civic action.

    Beyond academia, Trivik is a National Geographic Teaching Fellow and has instructed student expeditions for National Geographic and the Smithsonian to the Arctic Circle, Namibian Desert and the Himalayan range – linking research to public understanding of conservation, policy, and climate change. His work informs global debates on the future of cities, advocating for urban transitions that are socially just, democratically governed, and environmentally sustainable.

    Trivik’s teaching integrates computational methods, spatial analysis, and participatory approaches to address real-world challenges in urban planning and policy. He has developed and led courses in spatial data science, simulation modelling, and advanced urban analytics, drawing on case studies from all over the world. His teaching highlights the application of evidence-based methods to steer towards equitable and sustainable cities, encouraging students to critically assess data, engage with and respect knowledge within diverse communities, and explore the ethical implications of planning decisions.

    Trivik has designed open-source learning materials, including Spatial Data Science, a coursebook for educators and students that incorporates efforts to decolonise data science.

    Trivik’s commitment to experiential and place-based learning extends beyond the classroom. As a National Geographic Teaching Fellow, he has instructed expeditions for high school students in partnership with National Geographic and the Smithsonian, covering topics such as conservation, climate change, anthropology, and policy. These experiences allow students to bridge theory and practice, applying analytical skills to field-based challenges. Students are in formative years, age group 12-18 and have the opportunity to deeply reflect on the careers they want to pursue.

    At Loughborough, he continues to embed interdisciplinary and collaborative teaching methods, fostering student engagement through project-based learning, critical reflection, and public engagement. His approach aims to equip graduates with the technical expertise, ethical awareness, and creative problem-solving skills needed to lead in the transition towards just urban futures.

    Current

    • Ruth Nelson – Addressing Urban Inequalities through Integrated Urban Policy, TU Delft (Advisor)
    • Rodgers Iradukunda – Intersection of Inequalities in Urban Spaces, University of Liverpool (Co-Advisor)
    • Rico Herzog – Open-Source Digital Twins for Planning in Cities, HafenCity University (Co-Advisor)

    Recent/Completed

    • Joshua Yang – Digitally Assisted Participatory Decision Making, ETH Zurich (Co-Advisor)
    • [Visiting Candidate] Clara Peiret-Garcia – Understanding Inequalities in Access to Amenities using Geolocated Survey Data, Newcastle University
    • [Visiting Candidate] Anastassia Vybornova – Designing Segregation Models Highlighting Mechanisms of Inequalities, IT University of Copenhagen (Visiting Candidate)
    • [External Advisor and Exam Committee] Talia Kaufmann – Computational City Planning, Northeastern University, USA
    • Amir Ebrahimi Fard – Countering Rumours in Online Social Media, TU Delft (Advisor)