Urban Spatial consults at the intersection of data science and public policy. Founded in 2014 by Dr. Ken Steif, Urban Spatial combines spatial analysis, econometrics and predictive analytics to help government, business and the non-profit sector more efficiently allocate their limited resources across space. While our placed-based emphasis makes us unique, our real value-added is our ability to work across multiple related domains including urban economics, housing, neighborhoods, city & environmental planning, business siting, governance, economic development, public safety and beyond.
Ken Steif, PhD – Founder – @KenSteif
Ken Steif was at the forefront of data driven public policy for more than a dozen years. He combined technical knowledge of Geographic Information Systems and applied statistics with an interest in housing policy, education, the economics of neighborhood change, transportation policy and more. Ken was the Director of the Master of Urban Spatial Analytics at the University of Pennsylvania and taught multiple courses in the City Planning department at Penn. His work focused on the costs and benefits of gentrification; on the Philadelphia school crisis and the connection between good schools and neighborhood economic development; and on the use of machine learning to help democratize the planning process. He was a resident of West Philadelphia where he lived with his wife Diana and their two sons, Emil and Malcolm. Ken passed away in September of 2021.