Dr. AJ Kim
Associate Professor
School of Public Affairs
College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts
SDSU
Primary Email: [email protected]
Building/Location
Adams Humanities - 4134
5500 Campanile Drive
San Diego,
CA
92182-4560
Files
Bio
AJ Kim is an Associate Professor of City Planning in the School of Public Affairs at San Diego State University. Dr. Kim’s research is focused on participation in the informal economy and ethnic labor markets, as well as community development opportunities and health outcomes for vulnerable residents. They have partnered with non-governmental organizations across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, on planning with and for immigrant and refugee communities, with a focus on health and well-being, and migrant barriers to mobility, jobs, and housing. They have degrees in Gender and Feminist Studies (B.A), Ethnic Studies (M.A.) and Urban Planning (UCLA, Ph.D.)
Their research has received multiple grant awards from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, American Studies Association, and more. They have been a distinguished visiting scholar at UCLA in the Institute of American Cultures (2020-2021), the Department of Geography at University of Buffalo (2022-2023), and have been awarded an external faculty fellowship at Stanford University (2025-2026) to complete their book manuscript. Dr. Kim's book on how undocumented/unauthorized immigrants navigate various urban and suburban structures - both built and environmental - is forthcoming.
Professor AJ Kim's teaching and research on demographic change and immigrant related policy conflict in suburbs has also received awards from the Georgia Planning Association (2017) and the Dale Foundation Prize for Excellence in Urban and Regional Planning (2018). Professor Kim's advised community-engaged projects with the City of El Cajon and City Heights CDC, in San Diego County, have won the School of Public Affairs capstone excellence awards (2021, 2022).
Publications
Kim, Anna J. (2020). "Impact of a youth advocacy policy, systems and environmental change program for physical activity on perceptions and beliefs." Preventive Medicine.
Kim, Anna J (2020). "Challenges recruiting diverse youth for physical activity research." Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Kim, Anna J (2020). "Refuge City: Immigrant Place Making in Atlanta, GA." Journal of Urban Affairs.
Kim, Anna J. (2019). "Top Research Priorities to Improve Physical Activity and Health for all Children, Youth, and Families" Stanford Social Innovation Review
Kim, Anna J. (2019). "Planning and the So-Called ‘Sharing’ Economy" Planning Theory & Practice
Kim, Anna J. (2019). "The Gentrification of ‘Sharing’: From Bandit Cab to Ride Share Tech" Planning Theory and Practice
Kim, Anna J (2019). "Including Youth in the Ladder of Citizen Participation: Adding Rungs of Consent, Advocacy, and Incorporation" Journal of the American Planning Association
Kim, Anna J (2019). "Building evidence to reduce inequities in youth physical activity and obesity: Introductive to the Physical Activity Research Center (PARC) Special Section" Journal of Preventive medicine
Kim, A., Levin, J., and Botchwey, N. (2018). "Planning with Unauthorized Immigrant Communities: What Can Cities Do?" Journal of Planning Literature.
Botchwey, N., Floyd, M., Pollack, K., Carmen, C., Spoon, C., Schmid, T., Conway, T., Hipp, J., Kim, A., Umstattd Meyer, M., Wilson, A., Kauh, T., and Sallis, J. (2018). "Policy and Practice-Relevant Youth Physical Activity Research Agenda." Journal of Physical Activity and Health.
McDaniel, P., Rodriguez, D., and Kim, A. (2017). "Receptivity and the Welcoming Cities Movement: Advancing a Regional Immigrant Integration Policy Framework in Metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia." Papers in Applied Geography.
Kim, A. (2016). "A Welcoming (and Sometimes Not) America: Immigrant Integration in the New South." Metropolitics.
Kim, A. (2015). "From the Enclave to the City: The Economic Benefits of Immigrant Flexibility." Local Environment: The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability.
Chin, J., Kim, A., Takahashi, L., and Weibe, D. (2015). "Do Sexually Oriented Massage Parlor Businesses Cluster in Neighborhoods? Spatial Analysis of Indoor Sex Work in LA and Orange Counties." Public Health Reports.
Kim, A. (2012). "Labor Market Migrations: Immigrant Intersections in the Informal Economy." AAPI NEXUS: Journal of Policy, Research and Practice.
Takahashi, L., Kim, A., Sablan-Santos, L. et al. (2011). "HIV Testing Behavior among Pacific Islanders in Southern California: Importance of Ethnicity, Knowledge, and Domestic Violence." AIDS Education and Prevention.
Takahashi, L., Kim, A., Sablan-Santos, L. et al. (2010). "Hepatitis B Among Pacific Islanders in Southern California: How is Health Information Associated with Screening and Vaccination?" Journal of Community Health.