Lawrence D. Frank

Dr. Frank specializes in the interaction between land use, travel behavior, air quality and health and energy use and climate change impacts of urban form policies. He is a “walkability pioneer” and first to quantify connections between built environment, active transportation, and health. He coined the term “walkability” in the early 90’s and his work led to WalkScore and has been cited over 56,000 times.  His citation “H” Index is 102 and highest among planning academic in North America (and globally) according to Google Scholar. He has been listed in Thompson and Reuter’s top 1% in the social sciences. Dr. Frank has published over 200 peer reviewed articles and reports and co-authored Heath and Community Design and Urban Sprawl and Public Health and mapped out the nexus between built and natural environments, transportation, and public health.  Dr. Frank founded Urban Design 4 Health, Inc. in the late 90s to help decision makers.