Dillon Mahmoudi

Research Interests

Economic geography, critical GIS and counter-mapping, urban studies, labor markets, digital geography, youth & carceral geographies

Graduate Research and Undergraduate Research Opportunities

I am currently seeking Master’s and Doctoral students with training in heterodox/feminist economy geography to examine topics related to urban inequality, urban data/platforms, urban ecology, and global infrastructure. Ideal doctoral applicants should have research experience with qualitative research and historical materialism-based conceptual frameworks⁠ — training in GIS or technical expertise is a bonus.

Research Focus

My research focuses on the nexus of regional economies, urban spatial structure, and the relational processes of accumulation and exploitation under capitalism. Methodologically, I seek to combine advanced quantitative methods, critical GIS, and qualitative research.

Courses Taught

GES 330: Economic Geography
GES 383: Statistical and Thematic Cartography
GES 386/686: Introduction to Geographic Information Systems
GES 486/687: Advanced Applications in Geographic Information Systems
GES 488/688: Spatial Data Analysis and GIS Applications
GES 700: Seminar in Geography – Logics of Capital: Witchcraft, Slavery, & Waged-Work
GES 700: Seminar in Geography – Valuing Nature: Power, Production, & the Environment

Selected Publications

See a complete list with full downloads on my website: http://dillonm.io

Political Ecologies of Platform Urbanism: Digital Labor and Data Infrastructures. In Urban Platforms and the Future City: Transformations in Infrastructure, Governance, Knowledge and Everyday Life, edited by Mike Hodson, Julia Kasmire, Andrew McMeekin, John G. Stehlin, and Kevin Ward. New York: Routledge. Permalink.

Mapping Juvenile Justice: Identifying Existing Structural Barriers to Accessing Probation Services. American Journal of Community Psychology. Special issue on interdisciplinary approaches. With Erika Fountain. doi:10.1002/ajcp.12474

Reproducing spatial inequality? The sustainability fix and barriers to urban mobility in Portland, Oregon. 2020. Urban Geography 41 (6): 801-822. With Amy Lubitow and MacKenzie A. Christensen. doi:10.1080/02723638.2019.1698865

Silicon Forest and Server Farms: The (Urban) Nature of Digital Capitalism in the Pacific Northwest. 2019. Culture Machine 18: 1-14. With Anthony M Levenda. MDSoar

Data Colonialism through Accumulation by Dispossession: New metaphors for daily data. 2016. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 34 (6): 990–1006. With Jim Thatcher and David O’Sullivan. doi:10.1177/0263775816633195

Jane Jacobs and the Value of Older, Smaller Buildings. 2016. Journal of the American Planning Association 82 (2): 1-14. With Michael Powe, Emily Talen, Jonathan Mabry. doi:10.1080/01944363.2015.1135072

Selected Recent Presentations

Mahmoudi, Dillon. April 2021. “Land and Data: Rent, Value, and the Data Center REIT.” Annual Conference of the American Association of Geographers (AAG). Seattle, WA.

Sabatino, Alicia, and Dillon Mahmoudi. April 2021. “‘Market Value’ and The Spatial Politics of Neighborhood Classifications: Toward Algorithmic Justice.” Annual Conference of the American Association of Geographers (AAG). Seattle, WA.

Mahmoudi, Dillon, Evan Thomas, and Alicia Sabatino. April 2021. “What is Digital Labor? A framework for labor in the digital age.” Annual Conference of the American Association of Geographers (AAG). Seattle, WA.

Rivers, Erin N., Marissa Matsler, and Dillon Mahmoudi. April 2021. “Forgotten swales: Maintenance mediates benefit distribution in green stormwater infrastructure.” Annual Conference of the American Association of Geographers (AAG). Seattle, WA.

Discussant. April 2021. “Materializing Urban Infrastructures Session 2.” Annual Conference of the American Association of Geographers (AAG). Seattle, WA.

Discussant. April 2021. “Governance by Algorithm in Environment and Development.” Annual Conference of the American Association of Geographers (AAG). Seattle, WA.

Rivers, Erin N, Marissa Matsler, and Dillon Mahmoudi. March 2021. “Looking beyond facility location to evaluate equity in the distribution of green stormwater infrastructure.” Annual Symposia of the Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium. Portland, OR.

Mahmoudi, Dillon. September 2019. “Infrastructures of Cognitive-Cultural Capitalism: Data extraction as new colonialism.” Infrastructural Futures Across Cities of the Global North Workshop. Manchester, UK.

Mahmoudi, Dillon. April 2019. “Automating software production? Gender and new geographies.” Annual Conference of the American Association of Geographers (AAG). Washington DC.

Discussant. April 2019. “Political Economies of Geolocation II.” Annual Conference of the American Association of Geographers (AAG). Washington DC.

Mahmoudi, Dillon and Anthony Levenda. July 2019. “The Data Commodity and the Digital Urban Platform.” Platform Urbanism Workshop. Manchester, UK.

Conference Organization

Doing Critical GIS, Baltimore, MD. April 2019.

Space of Struggle: Radical Planning Mini-Conference, Portland, OR. November. November 2016. Sponsored by Critical Planning and Planners Network.

Critical Geographies Mini-Conference, Portland, OR. November 2015.