College of Architecture and Urban Studies | School of Public and International Affairs

Asst. Professor, Urban Affairs & Planning 213 Architecture Annex 540-231-7509 shirt@vt.edu

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ACADEMIC BIOGRAPHY

Education

• Ph.D. Urban and Regional Planning, University of Michigan (2003)
• M.S. Urban Planning, University of Michigan (1995)
• Architecture, Higher Inst. Of Arch & CE, Bulgaria (1991)

Areas of Specialization

• Land Use Planning, Policy and Regulation
• Urban Theory and History
• International and Comparative Planning
• East European Urbanism

Courses Taught and Programs

• Urbanization and Development
• Urban Policy and Planning
• European Cities and Planning
• History of Urban Planning and Design
• Planning Theory and Practice

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PUBLICATIONS

Journal articles

• Hirt, Sonia. 2008. Landscapes of Post-modernity: Changes in the Built Fabric of Belgrade and Sofia since the End of Socialism. Urban Geography (In press).
• Hirt, Sonia. 2007. Suburbanizing Sofia: Characteristics of Post-socialist Peri-urban Change. Urban Geography 28 (8): 755-780. http://bellwether.metapress.com/content/l53g8k6166070831/
• Hirt, Sonia and Andreas Luescher. 2007. Collaboration between Architects and Planners in an Urban Design Studio: Potential for Inter-disciplinary Learning. Journal of Design Research 6 (4): 422-443. http://www.inderscience.com/search/index.php?action=record&rec_id=16852
• Hirt, Sonia. 2007. The Devil is in the Definitions: Contrasting American and German Approaches to Zoning. Journal of the American Planning Association 73 (4): 436-450. http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a785038108~db=all~order=page
• Hirt, Sonia. 2007. The Mixed-use Trend: Planning Attitudes and Practices in Northeast Ohio. Journal of Architectural and Planning Research 24 (3): 224-244. http://japr.homestead.com/files/TOC243.pdf
• Hirt, Sonia. 2007. The Compact vs. the Dispersed City: History of Planning Debates on Sofia’s Urban Form. Journal of Planning History. http://jph.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/6/2/138
• Hirt, Sonia. 2006. Post-socialist Urban Forms: Notes from Sofia. Urban Geography 27 (5): 464-488. http://www.bellpub.com/ug/2006/d06tc.htm#tcbook05
• Hirt, Sonia. 2005. Planning the Post-communist City: Experiences from Sofia. International Planning Studies 10 (3/4): 219-240. http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/link.asp?id=x1481325257t1t8x
• Hirt, Sonia. 2005. Toward Post-modern Urbanism: Evolution of Planning in Cleveland, Ohio. Journal of Planning Education and Research 25 (1): 27-42. http://jpe.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/25/1/27
• Hirt, Sonia. 2002. Post-modernism and Planning Models. Critical Planning 9 (Summer): 116-127. http://www.spa.ucla.edu/critplan/past/volume009/index.htm#contents

Invited book chapters

• Levy, John, Sonia Hirt and Johann Jessen. 2009. Planning in Other Nations. Levy, John. Contemporary Urban Planning. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall. Chapter 18: 361-401. http://www.pearsonhighered.com/educator/academic/product/0,3110,0136025455,00.html
• Hirt, Sonia and Kiril Stanilov. 2007. The Perils of Post-socialist Transformation: Residential Development in Sofia. Stanilov, Kiril (ed.). The Post-socialist City: Urban Form and Space Transformations in Central and Eastern Europe. Chapter 11: 215-244. Dordrecht: Springer Press. http://www.springer.com/geography/human+geography/book/978-1-4020-6052-6?detailsPage=toc
• Hirt, Sonia and Atanas Kovachev. 2006. The Changing Spatial Structure of Post-socialist Sofia. Tsenkova, Sasha and Zorica Nedovic-Budic (eds). The Urban Mosaic of Post-socialist Europe: Space, Institutions and Policy. Chapter 6: 113-130. Heidelberg and New York: Springer and Physica. http://www.springerlink.com/content/j4127674814v353

Book reviews

• Hirt, Sonia. 2007. Review of Lawrence Herzog’s Return to the Center: Culture, Public Space and City-building in a Global Era. Journal of the American Planning Association. 73 (3): 364-365. http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/35861991-8131282/content~content=a782812518~db=all~order=page
• Hirt, Sonia. 2007. Review of Emily Talen’s New Urbanism and American Planning: The Conflict of Cultures. Professional Geographer 59 (1): 153-154. http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111%2fj.1467-9272.2007.00600.x
• Campbell, Scott and Sonia Hirt. 2002. Review of Philip Allmendinger’s Planning in Postmodern Times. Journal of Planning Education and Research 22 (2):202-204. http://jpe.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/22/2/201.pdf
• Angelova, Sonia. 1995. Review of Joel Goldsteen and Cecil Elliot’s Designing America: Creating Urban Identity. Journal of the American Planning Association 61 (4): 527. http://www.planning.org/japa/byissue

Refereed conference proceedings, research reports and other publications

• Hirt, Sonia and Joseph Scarpaci. 2007. Peri-urban development in Sofia and Havana: Prospects and Perils in the New Millennium. Cuba in Transition 17 (The Transition: What to Do and What to Avoid). Refereed Proceedings of the 17th Annual Conference of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy: 288-299. http://www1.lanic.utexas.edu/project/asce/pdfs/volume17/pdfs/hirtscarpaci.pdf.
• Hirt, Sonia. 2007. Bulgarian Women Architects. International Archive of Women in Architecture Newsletter 19: 4-5.
• Hirt, Sonia. 2007. Suburbanizing Sofia—Context and Characteristics of Post-socialist Spatial Growth, Issues and Opportunities. Washington, DC: International Research & Exchanges Board. Research report available at http://www.irex.org/programs/stg/research/06/hirt.pdf.
• Hirt, Sonia. 2003. Centralization or De-centralization: Sustainable Development (or not) in Planning the City of Sofia. Beriatos, E., C. Brebbia, H. Coccossis and A. Kungopolos, eds. Sustainable Planning and Development: 847-857. Southampton: Wessex Press.
• Hirt, Sonia. 2003. Planning the Post-socialist City: The Case of Sofia. Petruccioli, Attilio, Michelle Stella and Guiseppe Strappa, eds. The Planned City. Vol. III: 799-804. Bari: Uniongrafica Corcelli.
• Hirt, Sonia and Alexander Slaev. 2002. Urban Residential Development Traditions in Bulgaria and the United States: A Comparative Attempt. Architecture 5-6: 70-73. (In Bulgarian).
• Hirt, Sonia and Alexander Slaev. 2002. Traditions and Practices in Residential Forms and Urban Development: Bulgaria and the United States. Building the City 38: 19, 39: 19, 40: 39, 41: 19, 42: 19, 43: 25. (In Bulgarian).