Email

Preferred: mathurshishir1@gmail.com

Telephone

Preferred: (408) 310-7856

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy, Planning, University of Washington
• Master of Urban Planning, School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi, India
• Bachelor of Architecture, Regional Engineering College Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India

Bio

Dr. Mathur is a professor of urban and regional planning at San Jose State University (SJSU). During 2016-2019, he served as Associate Dean of Research, College of Social Sciences, SJSU, and during 2016-2020, as Director, Certificate in Real Estate Development.  He is the recipient of two university-level awards: Provost's Award for Excellence in Service Learning and Provost's Award for Excellence in Assessment of Learning Activities.

Dr. Mathur has over two decades of experience in academia, the corporate sector, and consulting. His body of work includes three books and more than 100 journal articles, book-length manuscripts, book chapters, working papers, conference papers/presentations, and consulting projects in and cutting across the fields of public finance, urban & real estate economics, housing, international planning, growth management, land use planning, transportation planning, emergency management, and systems analysis. The US Department of Transportation, the State of California, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, and Brookings Institution have funded his research.

He has advised several international, national, regional, and local organizations, such as the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), Federal Transit Administration, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Silicon Valley Leadership Group, and the City of San Jose.  

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS 

BOOKS

Books

Mathur, S. 2024. Development Charges: Funding Urban Infrastructure in India and the Global South. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.

For an overview go to: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/development-charges/DAF2EB1BD97CDCA3BE0AD97BE5B36408

Bish Sanyal, MIT: “Provides an empirically grounded and balanced view of development charges and explains their significance for the larger ecosystem of municipal finance. An essential reading for both scholars and practitioners searching for innovative ways to generate new revenue for better urban management.”

Paul Smoke, NYU: “Provides a useful and comprehensive background on development charges—their conceptual basis, how they fit into the larger intergovernmental fiscal system, how they are variably designed and used in practice, the types of challenges their design and implementation can encounter and the impacts (positive and negative, intended and unintended) their use can generate.”

Enrique Silva, Vice President, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy: "A reflexive, relevant, and rich contribution to the literature on land-based financing, an underutilized and misunderstood approach to fund urban development. Rich in detail and very accessible explanations of how development charges work, and its comparative analysis is strategic, as it inspires localities to use the tool more effectively.”

Kala Sridhar, Professor & Head, Institute for Social and Economic Change, India: “It presents various forms of development charges, innovatively considering the legal practicalities of cities in India and the US, and provides suggestions for their implementation. I highly recommend this book to scholars, practitioners, and policymakers in India, the US, and other countries where local government finances are weak.”

Vidyarthi, S., S. Mathur and S. Agarwal. 2017. Understanding India's New Approach to Spatial Planning and Development: A Salient Shift? New Delhi, India: Oxford University Press.

For an overview go to: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/understanding-indias-new-approach-to-spatial-planning-and-development-9780199472642?q=9780199472642&lang=en&cc=us

Bish Sanyal, MIT: "Sets a wonderful interdisciplinary tone of scholarship that draws on lessons of practice to enrich the understanding of the massive urban transformation process India is trying to channel toward a more egalitarian and environmentally sustainable economic growth trajectory."

Tridib Banerjee, USC: "This is a very important and timely contribution to the state of the art in spatial planning in India. It should be seen as a foundational and required reading for the students and practitioners of planning, not just in India, but the developing world more broadly."

Mohammed Qadeer, Queen's University, Canada: "A splendid example of documenting the evolving paradigm of both the theories and practices of India's approach to spatial planning and managing explosive urbanization." 

Mathur, S. 2014. Innovation in Public Transport Finance: Property Value Capture. Burlington, VT and Farnham, Surrey, U.K: Ashgate. (Paperback and e-book versions published by Routledge in 2016) 

For an overview go to:  https://www.routledge.com/Innovation-in-Public-Transport-Finance-Property-Value-Capture/Mathur/p/book/9781138250130

This book was reviewed in the Journal of the American Planning Association and the Journal of Planning Education and Research.  

An excerpt from the JAPA review:

“Overall, this book provides an accessible and balanced analysis that supports a rich engagement of a technical topic without relying on the reader’s prior knowledge. A consistent evaluation of the challenges, equity impacts, and institutional and legal factors that support success brings clarity to issues that often spark fierce debates. Moreover, while Mathur’s focus is on public transportation, the universality of his analysis provides a basis to consider how these finance methods could be used to support other forms of public infrastructure.”“Overall, this book provides an accessible and balanced analysis that supports a rich engagement of a technical topic without relying on the reader’s prior knowledge. A consistent evaluation of the challenges, equity impacts, and institutional and legal factors that support success brings clarity to issues that often spark fierce debates. Moreover, while Mathur’s focus is on public transportation, the universality of his analysis provides a basis to consider how these finance methods could be used to support other forms of public infrastructure.”

As per Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports' ranking by "Impact Factor," Urban Studies and Housing Policy Debate were ranked 1st and 3rd, respectively, in the field of “Urban Studies” at the time of manuscript submission. Journal of Planning Education and Research was ranked 1st in 2021, 11th in 2018, 19th in 2015, 12th in 2013, and 6th in 2011 in the field of "Urban Studies." Transportation Research Part A and Transport Policy were ranked 3rd and 10th, respectively, in the field of “Transportation.” Habitat International was ranked 4th in 2014 and 10th in 2012 and Cities was ranked 4th in 2023, 5th in 2015, and 13th in 2011 in the field of “Urban Studies.” Computers, Environment and Urban Systems was ranked 13th in the field of "Geography."  Land Use Policy was ranked 23rd out of 125 journals in 2020 and 25th out of 108 journals in 2018 in the field of "Environmental Studies."

 

PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES

Mathur, S. H. Nixon and S. Chokshi. Accepted for publication. Predevelopment Revolving Loan Funds to Develop Affordable Housing: Program Features and How They Can be Strengthened. Cities.

Mathur, S. and A. Gatdula.  2023.  Review of Planning, Landuse, and Zoning Barriers to the Construction of Transit-oriented Developments in the United States. Case Studies on Transport Policy. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cstp.2023.100988

Mathur, S. and R. Robinson.  2022.  Assessing the Feasibility of Employing Transportation Utility Fee: Need to Overlay Landmark Court Decisions on State-level Determinants. Journal of Planning Education and Research. DOI:10.1177/0739456X221142524

Mathur, S.  2022.  Non-linear and Weakly Monotonic Relationship between School Quality and House Prices. Land Use Policy 113, 105922. DOI:10.1016/j.landusepol.2022

Mathur, S. and A. Gatdula. 2021. Addressing Barriers to the Use of Value Capture to Fund Transit-Oriented Developments. Case Studies on Transport Policy 9(2):511–527.

Mathur, S. 2021. Enabling Legal Environment for Meeting the Rational Nexus Principle: Insights from the Use of Development Charges in India. Public Works Management and Policy 26(3):239–258.

Mathur, S. 2020. Impact of Transit Stations on House Prices Across Entire Price Spectrum: A Quantile Regression Approach. Land Use Policy 99, 104828. DOI:10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104828

Mathur, S. 2020. Impact of Heavy-rail-based Rapid Transit on House Prices: Evidence from the Fremont, CA, Warm Springs BART Extension Project. Journal of Planning Education and Research. DOI:10.1177/0739456X19898737

Mathur, S. 2019. An Evaluative Framework for Examining the Use of Land Value Capture to Fund Public Transportation Projects. Land Use Policy 86:357-364.

Mathur, S. 2019. House Price Impacts of Construction Quality and Level of Maintenance on a Regional Housing Market: Evidence from King County, Washington. Housing and Society 46(2):57-80.

Mathur, S. 2019. Impact of an Urban Growth Boundary Across the Entire House Price Spectrum: The Two-Stage Quantile Spatial Regression Approach. Land Use Policy 80:88–94. 

 

Mathur, S. 2019. Linking Planning with Budgeting: Examining Linkages between General Plans and Capital Improvement Plans. Journal of Planning Education and Research 39(1):65-78.

Eirinaki, M., S. Dhar, S. Mathur, A. Kaley, A. Patel, A. Joshi and D. Shah. 2018. A Building Permit System for Smart Cities: A Cloud-based Framework. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems 70:175–188. 

Mathur, S. 2017. Public-Private Partnerships for Municipal Water Supply in Developing Countries: Lessons from Karnataka, India, Urban Water Supply Improvement Project. Cities 68:56–62.

Mathur, S. 2017. The Myth of "Free" Public Education: Impact of School Quality on House Prices in the Fremont Unified School District, California. Journal of Planning Education and Research 37(2):176–194.  

Mathur, S. 2017. Use of Tax Increment Financing to Fund Public Transportation: Enabling Environment and Equity Impacts. Public Works Management and Policy 22(3):201–225.(among PWMP's most read articles as of November, 2018)

Mathur, S. 2016. Designing an Impact Fee Program to Meet Rational Nexus Principle and Reduce Vertical Inequity. Public Works Management & Policy 21(4):324–345.

Mathur, S. 2015. Sale of Development Rights to Fund Public Transportation Projects: Insights from Rajkot, India, BRTS Project. Habitat International 50: 234–239.

Mathur, S. 2015. Funding Public Transportation through Special Assessment Districts: Addressing the Equity Concerns. Public Works Management & Policy 20(2):127–145. (among PWMP's most read articles as of August, 2016)

Mathur, S. 2014. Special Assessment District’s Ability to Fund Transit: Lessons from Project-level Analysis. Transportation Research Record 2417(3):103–110. 

Mathur, S. 2014. Impact of Urban Growth Boundary on Land and Housing Prices. Housing Studies 29(1):128–148. 

Mathur, S. 2013. Do All Impact Fees Affect Housing Prices the Same? Journal of Planning Education and Research 33(4):442–455. 

Mathur, S. 2013. Self-financing Urbanization: Insights from the Use of Town Planning Schemes in Ahmadabad, India. Cities 31:308–316. 

Mathur, S. 2013. Use of Land Pooling and Reconstitution for Urban Development: Experiences from Gujarat, India. Habitat International 38:199–206. 

Mathur, S. and A. Smith. 2013. Land Value Capture to Fund Public Transportation Infrastructure: Examination of Joint Development Projects’ Revenue Yield and Stability. Transport Policy 30:327–335. 

Mathur, S. and A. Smith. 2013. Transit Impact Fee: Enabling Statutes and Equity Concerns. Transportation Research Record 2346(2):13–22. 

Mathur, S. and C. Ferrell. 2013. Impact of Sub-urban Transit-oriented Developments on Residential Property Values. Transportation Research Part A 47:42–55. 

Fauria, A. and S. Mathur. 2012. Impact of Targeted Redevelopment of Central Business District on Housing Prices in the Surrounding Neighborhoods: Evidence from Oakland, California. Journal of Urban Planning and Development 138(3):244–253. 

Ferrell, C. and S. Mathur. 2012. The Influence of Neighborhood Crime on Mode Choice. Transportation Research Record 2320:55–63. 

Mathur, S. 2009. A Case Study of the Parks and Recreational General Obligation Bond Measure of San Jose, California. Theoretical and Empirical Researches in Urban Management 4(2/11):34–49. 

Mathur, S., V. Shankar and S. Sitikariya. 2009. Factors That Influence a Jurisdiction’s Probability of Charging Impact Fees. Journal of Urban Planning and Development 135(3): 110–115. 

Mathur, S. and S. Srinivasan. 2009. High-Speed Rail in the Midwest United States: Potential for Success. Theoretical and Empirical Researches in Urban Management 4(13):59–74. 

Mathur, S. 2008. Impact of Transportation and Other Jurisdictional-Level Infrastructure and Services on Housing Prices. Journal of Urban Planning and Development 134(1):32–41. 

Mathur, S. 2007. Do Impact Fees Raise the Price of Existing Housing? Housing Policy Debate 18(4):635–659.

Blanco, H. and S. Mathur. 2005. Extending the Emergency Management Toolbox with Problem-based Cases. Journal of Emergency Management 3(1):14–18. 

Mathur, S., P. Waddell and H. Blanco. 2004. Effect of Impact Fees on Price of New Single Family Housing. Urban Studies 41(7):1303–1312. 

PEER-REVIEWED BOOK CHAPTERS

Mathur, S. 2006. Valuation of Local Public Goods and Services: A Note. In J. Carruthers and B. Mundy (eds.) Environmental Valuation: Intraregional and Interregional Perspectives. Hampshire, U.K.: Ashgate. 

Carlson, D. and S. Mathur. 2004. Can We Tell if Smart Growth Aids or Thwarts Affordable Housing? In A. Downs (ed.) Growth Management and Affordable Housing: Do They Conflict? Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. 

BOOK REVIEW

Mathur, S.  2021.  Book review: Shareholder Cities: Land Transformation Along Urban Corridors in India, by S. Balakrishnan.  Journal of Planning Education and Research. DOI: 10.1177/0739456X211042067