Virginia Parks

Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy UC Irvine

  • Irvine CA

Virginia Parks, PhD, is a geographer and urban planner specializing in the study of urban inequality.

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Biography

Virginia Parks, PhD, is a geographer and urban planner specializing in the study of urban inequality. Her research and teaching interests include labor and employment, racial and gender inequality, urban politics and policy, and local economic development. Professor Parks has published research on the racial wage gap, low-wage work, immigrant employment patterns, public sector jobs, workplace diversity, job training, commuting disparities, and the politics of urban development. Throughout this work Professor Parks is motivated by how urban space, politics, and regulatory environments influence inequality outcomes.

Her current research analyzes the economic effects of the clean energy transition on workers and regional economies.

Areas of Expertise

Clean Energy Transition
Urban Politics and Policy
Racial Inequality
Employment
Local Economic Development
Labor

Accomplishments

Russell Sage Foundation Visiting Scholar

August 2008-June 2009

Summer Institute in Economic Geography Fellow

2004

University of Wisconsin, Madison

California Census Research Data Center Dissertation Fellowship

2001-02

Education

University of California, Los Angeles

PhD

Geography

2002

University of California, Los Angeles

MA

Urban Planning

1997

University of Colorado

BA

Humanities and History

1993

Summa Cum Laude

Affiliations

  • Association of American Geographers
  • Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning
  • American Planning Association
  • Urban Affairs Association
  • American Sociological Association
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Media Appearances

Displaced fossil fuel workers struggling as CA shifts to clean energy, study shows

KABC  online

2023-05-15

"This was an opportunity, not one we would want but an opportunity to give us sight lines on the coming transition to clean energy," UC Irvine Urban Planning and Public Policy professor Virginia Parks -- who is the lead author of the study -- told ABC7 news of their research. "Learning what are fossil fuels workers are really going to face in the labor market once they no longer have jobs in industries where they've been employed?"

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What Happens When a Refinery Closes

NBC Bay Area  online

2023-04-27

A pair of researchers looked at what happened after the marathon refinery closed in 2020.345 people lost their jobs. The researchers found that while about 75% of the workers found new jobs. Raj Mathai speaks with UC Irvine professor Dr. Virginia Parks, who is one of the researchers on this project.

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UC Irvine Labor Center opens on campus

UCI News  online

2023-03-21

Through research, advocacy, policy innovation, education and outreach, the center will support unions and worker organizations in their endeavors to create a fair and racially just worker-centered economy. Virginia Parks, professor of urban planning and public policy; Walter Nicholls, professor and chair of urban planning and public policy; and Sameer Ashar, clinical professor of law and director of UCI’s Workers, Law and Organizing Clinic, are leading the effort, and Parks is serving as the center’s academic director.

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Event Appearances

Challenges and Opportunities of University-Labor Research: The Case of the Martinez Refinery Closure Survey

UC Labor Centers’ Statewide Gathering with the California Labor Federation.  UC Labor Centers

2024-03-20

Orange County Industry and Employment Trends

Orange County Labor Federation  Orange, CA

2023-10-27

Orange County Worker and Employment Profile

Orange County Community Economic Resilience Fund (CERF) High Road Transition Collaborative  Zoom

2023-06-30

Articles

Housing and Food Insecurity among Resort Food Service Workers in Orange County, CA: Results from a Worker Survey

UC Irvine Labor Center

2023

In the wake of COVID-19, workers in Orange County’s resort sector struggle daily against the challenges of food and housing insecurity. We surveyed workers employed by a food services company operating in Anaheim’s Disneyland Resort Park in August 2023 about their basic needs.

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Orange County Worker Profile

UCI Labor Center

2023

The UCI Labor Center’s analysis of labor market trends is informed by a worker-centered approach. We focus on workers as the level of analysis. For example, we analyze workers’ wages as opposed to household income. We also focus on key worker characteristics, such as gender, race, and ethnicity.

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Fossil fuel layoff: The economic and employment effects of a refinery closure on workers in the Bay Area

UC Berkeley Labor Center

2023

On October 30, 2020, the Marathon oil refinery in Contra Costa County, California, was permanently shut down and 345 unionized workers laid off. We surveyed (n=140) and interviewed (n=21) these refinery workers to document their post-layoff employment experiences. The findings in this report focus on these workers’ post-layoff job search, employment status, wages, and financial security.

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