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About Us

About Us

The Center for Urban Resilience and Analytics (CURA) is Georgia Tech’s hub for research at the intersection of urban resilience, climate adaptation, and spatial data analytics. Formed in 2025 through the strategic integration of the Center for Spatial Planning Analytics and Visualization (CSPAV), the Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development (CQGRD), and the Urban Climate Lab (UCL), CURA brings together decades of expertise to address the most urgent challenges facing cities today.

Our mission is to strengthen cities' ability to adapt and thrive amid environmental, social, and economic stressors—from extreme heat and flooding to housing instability and infrastructure strain. By combining advanced spatial data tools, policy insights, and interdisciplinary research, CURA equips communities with strategies to build resilience and equity into the urban fabric.

CURA projects span high-resolution urban heat mapping, climate equity planning, 3D scenario modeling, energy footprinting, and public health analytics. These efforts directly inform planning and policymaking in cities like Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, and San Francisco—and increasingly, communities across the globe.

As we look ahead, CURA continues to expand its partnerships with faculty labs, public agencies, and global collaborators. Together, we are reimagining what cities can be—and how they can endure.

1988
First geographic information systems class at Georgia Tech offered through City Planning and taught by Bill Drummond
1989
Mike Rowan and Nick Faust of the Electro-Optical Systems Lab (EOSL) at Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and Drummond awarded a grant from the Georgia Tech Vice President of Research to develop a Center for Spatial Analysis Technologies (CSAT)
1991
Bob Dyar and Jack Alhadeff of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) became part of CSAT to help foster interdisciplinary and intergovernmental research
1995
Drummond and Ray Argo of the University of Georgia (UGA) acquired funding from the Georgia Legislature to implement the Strategic Initiative in Geographic Information Systems, an effort use GIS technology in teaching, research, and service activities
1995
The Center for Geographic Information Systems (CGIS), the Georgia GIS Clearinghouse, and a partner lab at UGA were established as a direct result of the Strategic Initiative in GIS.
1997
CGIS, CSAT, and the Georgia GIS Clearinghouse were moved from GTRI to the College of Architecture. Professor Steve French is appointed CGIS director. Tom Mettile is appointed director of the Georgia GIS Clearinghouse.
1997
CGIS hires its first full-time researchers (four) and student assistants, many of whom teach GIS classes across campus.
1998
The Georgia GIS Clearinghouse hires three full-time staff members.
2006
CSAT moves operations off-campus to the USGS’ Atlanta offices.
2011
Steve French steps down as director to become the College of Architecture’s first Associate Dean of Research.
2012
Professor Subhrajit Guhathakurta is appointed director of CGIS.
2014
The College of Architecture’s IMAGINE Lab is integrated into CGIS, bringing with it three full-time researchers and more than 10 student assistants.
2017
CGIS rebrands itself as the Center for Spatial Planning Analytics and Visualization (CSPAV).
2018
Guhathakurta, director of CSPAV, is named the new Chair of the School of City and Regional Planning.
2020
Today the Center has a staff of six research faculty, including the director, and routinely employs 10-20 students each year.
2025
The Center for Urban Resilience and Analytics (CURA) is established, uniting the research strengths of CSPAV, CQGRD, and the Urban Climate Lab into a single interdisciplinary hub focused on advancing urban resilience and spatial data analytics

Media Inquiries

Ann Hoevel
Director of Communication
Georgia Tech College of Design

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