Christopher A. Watson, M.Sc., Ph.D.[c] was recently named The City Planning Officer for the City of Newark. In this capacity, Chris effectuate with his team prudent planning practices for the projects that achieves the administration’s five Newark Forward pillars. His portfolio is responsible for operations in the units of city zoning, planning, and its boards and commissions. He’s a decade old Newark resident of the city’s West Ward. Chris was born in Guyana, South America and received his undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Guyana. He gained his Master’s degree in Urban Affairs and Planning, with honors, from Hunter College, CUNY. He is currently a duel Ph.D. Candidate in the joint Urban Systems program at the College of Architecture and Design, New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers University’s Graduate Center. His research interests coalesce around some of the most enduring themes of urban scholarship: the intersections of poverty, race, and class; and the physical and socio-political impacts and consequences of gentrification in American cities.

Chris is the 2018 recipient of the President’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching from Queens College, CUNY where he’s an adjunct professor in the Urban Studies department, teaching courses on Urban Poverty and Affluence, Graduate Research Methods, Researching New York City, and Urban Planning and City Government.

Chris serves as Vice President of the board of directors for United Vailsburg Service Organization, and is currently writing his first book, Planning Equity.