Senior Fellow Institute for International Urban Development (I2UD) James Kostaras is a registered architect and urban planner at the Institute for International Urban Development (I2UD) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In his role at I2UD, he has helped communities and local governments address the challenges of urban poverty, housing, rapid urbanization and the climate adaptation of cities in developing countries, including: Belize, Haiti, Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador. Urban climate adaptation and resiliency through sustainable community development is the focus of his current work, funded by the World Bank, USAID and other organizations. As a former city-planning director in Massachusetts, he launched major urban redevelopment projects in cities challenged by poverty and economic decline that attracted over $ 1 billion in public and private investment. From 1998-2008, Mr. Kostaras was a Lecturer and Design Critic in Urban Planning and Design at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He received his Bachelor of Architecture from RISD and his Master of Architecture in Urban Design from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. From 1979-1981, Mr. Kostaras served as an architect in the U.S. Peace Corps in Morocco.
