Prof. Dr. Lindsay Blair Howe

Lindsay Blair Howe is Full Professor of Urban Development and Spatial Planning at the Department of Architecture at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) School of Engineering and Design, where she leads the Centre for Urbanisation and Peripheralization (CUSP). Her research program examines the urban in a comparative context, emphasizing the interstice between people, planning policies, and the built environment. Lindsay’s approach includes original digital and mixed-method tools, such as the use of volunteered geographic information, alongside established qualitative urban research methods from the social sciences that emphasize the importance of everyday life in theorizing urban space. Her transdisciplinary empirical work is primarily located in

Southern Africa. She teaches and publishes on a wide range of topics related to urbanization and how it can be applied to design across multiple scales.

 

Lindsay was born in Berkeley, California and completed her undergraduate degree in Architecture and Global Culture & Commerce at the University of Virginia. After several years practicing in the United States and Germany, she completed her master’s and PhD degrees in Architecture at the ETH Zurich in Switzerland. She was a master’s thesis student at the chair from 2011-2012, a doctoral student from 2014-2017, and a lecturer and research associate from 2018-2021 until being appointed Professor of Architecture & Society at the University of Liechtenstein in 2021. She was appointed to TUM in 2025.