Andrew Mondschein is named Co-Director of UVA’s Digital Technology for Democracy Lab

The University of Virginia’s Digital Technology for Democracy Lab (DTD) recently announced its interim Co-Directors, including Associate Professor Andrew Mondschein from the School of Architecture. Mondshein, who has been involved with the lab for just over a year, previously served as a Faculty Co-Lead, specifically conducting research and providing mentorship on technology and urban governance. Mondschein is joined by Mona Kasra, Associate Professor of Digital Media Design in the Department of Art, as his fellow Co-Director. 

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Funded by UVA’s Grand Challenges Research Initiatives and administered by UVA’s Karsh Institute of Democracy, the DTD Lab pioneers impact-oriented research to ensure that democratic processes and public institutions are strengthened rather than undermined as digital technologies continue to reshape our world. The lab supports a postdoctoral fellowship program, faculty research, topical convenings, and research-practice partnerships to critically examine the impact of digital systems and channels these insights into innovative pathways for technology that serves the public good.

“I look forward to helping make connections between the DTD Lab and faculty, staff, students across the University, including in the School of Architecture,” said Mondschein. “It will also be a pleasure to work with Mona Kasra as co-directors, supporting post-docs across many disciplines and maintaining a steady stream of dialogue spanning humanities, social and natural sciences, and design and professional disciplines.”

Mondschein’s research addresses the rapidly changing terrain of transportation and information technologies, identifying means to assert social imperatives during a period of urban transformation. His research emphasizes the role of information and knowledge in fostering individual- and community-level capability and democratic control over mobility. 

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At the DTD Lab, he leads the Urban Digital Twins initiative, focused on modeling and simulation technologies in urban governance in support of visioning, planning and decision-making. As urban simulations are rapidly expanding in size and detail, with the advent of human and environmental big data and machine learning, democratic practices in cities are being challenged.

“At DTD, I’ve had the opportunity to work on our initiative with the City of Bologna, Italy, which has received European Union and national support to develop a Civic Digital Twin,” said Mondschein. “This model emphasizes not just urban optimization but embedding democratic values both in the engagement practices shaping the digital twin, its technical operations, and analytic outputs.”

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In late October, the DTD Lab will host guests from Bologna to convene at UVA to discuss the promise of how urban digital twins can facilitate public administrations in transitioning to more evidence-based policymaking. The event will promote discussions on how artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies — managed in a democratic way through open data use — can aid the City of Bologna, and other cities across the globe, in addressing complex issues such as climate adaptation, urban mobility, energy management, sustainable development and other pressing challenges.
 

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Most recently, Mondshein has been awarded a new grant to investigates how individual cognition and attitudes are important dimensions of providing access to opportunities such jobs, open space, and social connection during everyday travel. The project, Simulating Accessibility, is funded by SMARTER, a USDOT University Transportation Center established in 2023 as a consortium of eight premier research institutions working collaboratively to address critical issues of mobility and planning throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.

Along with Co-Principal Investigator Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Cinzia Cirillo (University of Maryland), Mondshein and the research team will build a build an advanced microsimulation tool that helps planners and others understand how new transportation technologies, including navigation apps and driverless mobility, are changing human decision-making, daily travel, and opportunities in cities. 

“For me, Simulating Accessibility is part of a larger research agenda, including my work on the Bologna Civic Digital Twin,” shared Mondschein. “Urban and transportation simulations can be useful for planning when they take into account the diverse needs and desires of urban residents, while also understanding the feedback between technologies and daily life. This is a moment for planners and all urban humanists to take stock of how the meaning of cities and travel is changing quickly, requiring new approaches to how we provide sustainable and democratic choices for people.”