Parcel Edge Classification Toolkit(PECT)
Background and Purpose
This package was developed by a research team led by Professor Carole Voulgaris at Harvard University. It aims to provide an automated process for identifying the “front, rear, and side” edges of each parcel lot through advanced data preprocessing using Python. By integrating various spatial analysis techniques, this package offers a streamlined approach to classify and label parcel boundaries based on the spatial relationships between roads and parcels, along with address information. This helps researchers and practitioners better understand parcel-level spatial configurations, thereby contributing to studies in regional planning, housing, and transportation planning.
Meet Our Team
Welcome to the contact our team. Below, you will find information about our team members and their roles within the project.
Team Leader
Carole Voulgaris
cvoulgaris@gsd.harvard.edu
Project Leader
Carole Turley Voulgaris is an Associate Professor of Urban Planning at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. Prior to that, she was an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at California Polytechnic State University, where she taught courses on sustainable mobility, public transportation, transportation system planning, and intelligent transportation systems.
Carole holds a PhD in Urban Planning from UCLA, a Master of Business Administration from University of Notre Dame, and Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Civil Engineering from Brigham Young University.Carole’s research focuses on explaining what influences individuals’ and households’ decisions on how to travel through cities, and how transportation planning institutions use information about those decisions to inform plans, policies, and infrastructure designs. She is particularly interested in the development and use of quantitative metrics to describe complex characteristics of the built environment, particularly those believed to influence travel behavior.
Team Members
Houpu Li
houpu_li@gsd.harvard.edu
Research Associate
Houpu Li is a Research Associate at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) in 2024, specializing in urban data science and regional studies. His research explores the complex interplay between housing availability, urban environments, and transportation accessibility using spatial modeling and machine learning techniques. Through his work, he aims to reveal the underlying mechanisms of urban systems to support the development of more sustainable and equitable cities.Prior to joining Harvard, Houpu obtained both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Architecture from universities in China and a Master’s degree in Regional Science from Cornell University. He has also gained hands-on experience as an Architectural Intern at Aedas’ Shenzhen office and as a Planning Intern at the China Academy of Urban Planning and Design (CAUPD).
Kamryn Mansfield
kamryn_mansfield@gsd.harvard.edu
Research Associate
Kamryn Mansfield is a Research Associate at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) in 2024. His research focuses on analyzing city codes and leveraging computational methods to enhance housing policies and accessibility. He holds an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from Brigham Young University. Prior to joining Harvard, he worked as a Transportation Engineer in Utah.