UB Faculty Wins Baltic-American Freedom Foundation Award

During the Spring 2025 semester, Daniel B. Hess, professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, will visit the Institute of Architecture and Design at Riga Technical University (RTU), Latvia. Hess' visit to RTU is supported with funding from the Baltic-American Freedom Foundation (BAFF). BAFF aims to strengthen ties between the USA and the Baltic countries through education and exchange programs focused on economic growth and democratic development. An objective of BAFF is to enhance cooperation between the two countries, and Hess’ visit to Riga will augment research and scholarship about comparative urbanism – an increasingly relevant topic as cities around the world face common challenges in a globally connected world.

RTU is the premier institution of higher education in Latvia focusing on technology; the Institute of Architecture and Design was the first in Latvia to award degrees in architecture. Today, the Institute of Architecture and Design educates architecture students from Latvia and throughout the world. Its scholars pursue research on how to achieve excellence in quality of living environments in urban regeneration projects in addition to adaptive and participatory techniques in urban planning projects. Māra Liepa-Zemeša, the Director of the RTU Institute of Architecture and Design, previously received a BAFF Research Scholar Award and spent a year at the University at Buffalo. “We are delighted to welcome Daniel to our Institute at RTU and collaborate with him on research about urban excellence in the Baltic countries, especially the socialist-era housing estates of Latvia,” said Liepa-Zemeša. “Daniel’s visit to Riga allows us to continue collaboration between the University at Buffalo and Riga Technical University.”

Hess conducts research on comparative urbanisation, analysing conditions in Europe and the United States, with a particular focus on the Baltic countries. As a former Fulbright Scholar and Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow, he previously conducted research in Estonia, Poland, and throughout Europe. Hess is the author and editor of dozens of scholarly articles and four books about planning and cities, including “Housing Estates in the Baltic Countries: The Legacy of Central Planning in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.”

During his academic visit to RTU, Hess will serve as keynote speaker at the international conference "Quality of Living Environment and Affordable Housing for Urban Climate Resilience and Competitiveness.” He will also deliver guest lectures at the Institute of Architecture and Design about urban planning and sustainable development. Hess will also participate in the activities of the RTU research project "Developing common spatial strategies for equitable and sustainable mobility in large-scale residential areas." Hess will share his experience in Poland, where he studied how the 15-minute city strategy was tested in socialist-era neighbourhoods in Krakow.