Samir Gambhir

Program Manager
Equity Metrics,Inclusiveness Index

EMAIL

samirgambhir.2@gmail.com

Areas of Expertise

Samir Gambhir works as a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) researcher and manager of Opportunity Mapping program at the Othering & Belonging Institute. He has more than 9 years of experience in the field of mapping, spatial analysis and web-GIS. He has research experience in the areas of social justice, racial equity, planning, health and business, with a focus on human geography. Prior to joining the Othering & Belonging Institute, Samir worked as GIS Manager for Centre for Global Health Research (CGHR), Toronto. Prior to CGHR, he worked as Senior GIS Researcher at The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at The Ohio State University under john’s leadership. He graduated from The Ohio State University in 2003 with a Masters degree in City and Regional Planning. He holds a Bachelors degree in Architecture from India.

NEWS

Chart showing race composition of Bay Area cities
Report: Single-family zoning dominates Bay Area housing, presenting barrier to integration
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 11, 2020 BERKELEY, CA: Opening up restrictive communities to multiplex housing may be a key strategy to promote racial residential integration in the Bay Area, new research from UC Berkeley's Othering & Belonging Institute released Tuesday suggests . The report, the...
Press Release
cropper cover image of the 2019 inclusiveness index
2019 Inclusiveness Index Highlights Anti-trans Violence, Fake News, and De-democratization as Key Challenges to Inclusion in US and World
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DECEMBER 18, 2019 BERKELEY, CA: The Netherlands, Sweden, and Norway took the top spots in the 2019 Inclusiveness Index , our annual ranking of global inclusion that classifies 132 countries and all 50 US states according to policies and laws that challenge or promote belonging...
Press Release, News
map of Oakland illustrates that 67 percent of all residential land is zoned for single-family homes, and prohibits denser housing options. And 27 percent of all land in Oakland is zoned strictly for single family homes.
Single-Family Zoning in the San Francisco Bay Area
Editor's note (August 17, 2020): The author's have completed and published the full set of zoning maps and the accompanying Part 5 segregation report referred to at the end of this article By Stephen Menendian & Samir Gambhir In mid-June, the New York Times published ten zoning maps of major...
An image grab from an interactive map shows an overview of the segregation levels in the bay area
Bay Area More Segregated Now than in 1970, Interactive Map Reveals
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 28, 2019 BERKELEY, CA: The San Francisco Bay Area is more segregated today than it was nearly 50 years ago, according to research published Tuesday by the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society at UC Berkeley which developed an interactive map to calculate...
Press Release
A screen grab of the 2019 opportunity map
California Uses Our Opportunity Maps to Build Affordable Housing in Resource-Rich Regions
BERKELEY, CA: A California state treasury committee has approved for the second consecutive year the use of an Opportunity Area Map developed by Haas Institute researchers and partners to help determine which regions of the state are best suited for the construction of low-income housing. The state...
Press Release
cover of the 2018 inclusiveness index report
2018 Inclusiveness Index Spotlights #MeToo, Water Access, and Refugees
BERKELEY, CA: Issues of sexual violence against women, access to water, and the continuing refugee and migrant crises were among the most pressing challenges facing the world in 2018. The varied responses to these challenges by state bodies—both domestically and worldwide—contributed greatly to...
Press Release
An image grab shows some of the intro text to the Racial Segregation report
New Maps Provide Granular Look at Racial Segregation in SF Bay Area
October 29, 2018 BERKELEY, CA: The Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society at UC Berkeley on Monday released the first in a series of maps and web reports that depict the levels of racial segregation across the San Francisco Bay Area, down to the neighborhood level. As a whole, the Bay Area...
Press Release
Haas Institute releases 2017 Inclusiveness Index
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 31, 2017 Haas Institute releases its second annual Inclusiveness Index report. BERKELEY, CA: The Netherlands, Sweden, and Norway retained the top three spots in the Haas Institute’s 2017 Inclusiveness Index released today , which ranks nations based on their levels of...
Press Release
San Francisco Skyline
New Report on Low Income Housing Tax Credit Finds Room for Improvement in Promoting Access to Opportunity for Bay Area Developments
New Report on Low Income Housing Tax Credit Finds Room for Improvement in Promoting Access to Opportunity for Bay Area Developments March 14, 2017/Berkeley, CA : The Haas Institute releases a new study that comprehensively analyzes the administration of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC)...
Press Release
Inclusiveness Index 2016 Cover
Haas Institute Launches First Annual Inclusiveness Index that Measures Inclusivity and Marginality
The Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society proudly announces the first edition of their annual publication, entitled Inclusiveness Index 2016: Measuring Inclusion and Marginality . A premier research initiative for the Institute, this report represents the Institute’s efforts to measure...
Press Release

REPORTS

Picture shows a sign that says Welcome to East Palo Alto
The Most Segregated (and Integrated) Cities in the SF Bay Area
By Stephen Menendian, Arthur Gailes, and Samir Gambhir In 2018, we launched a project investigating the extent, harm and solutions to racial residential segregation in the San Francisco Bay Area . Including the research phase, this project took more than two years to complete. Although our research...
Publication
Racial composition and single family zoning.
Single-Family Zoning in the San Francisco Bay Area
By Stephen Menendian , Samir Gambhir , Karina French , and Arthur Gailes Introduction As part of our series on racial segregation in the San Francisco Bay Area, we examined the relationship between restrictive zoning (and single-family zoning in particular) and racial residential segregation. That...
Publication
Zoning map of the Bay Area
Racial Segregation in the San Francisco Bay Area, Part 5
By Stephen Menendian , Samir Gambhir , and Arthur Gailes * Introduction Racial segregation remains the key driver of racial disparities in education, health care, housing, and employment. This five-part series investigates the persistent problem of racial residential segregation in the San...
Publication
COVID-19: Mapping vulnerable populations in California
Published: March 24, 2020 Last updated: May 11, 2020 As part of the effort to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable and impacted groups during the ongoing and rapidly developing coronavirus pandemic we've developed: 1. an interactive heat map of the United States showing how different states...
Publication
chart shows racial segregation has changed very little since 1970, and remains almost exactly at the same level
Racial Segregation in the San Francisco Bay Area, Part 3
By Stephen Menendian and Samir Gambhir * May 28, 2019 Introduction This series investigates the persistent problem of racial residential segregation in the San Francisco Bay Area by applying novel research methods and fresh analytical tools to better understand the extent and nature of the problem...
Publication
Chart shows the Bay Area's African America population over time
Racial Segregation in the San Francisco Bay Area, Part 2
By Stephen Menendian and Samir Gambhir * Feb. 6, 2019 Introduction Racial segregation is a complex, multi-faceted phenomenon that shapes the life chances of individuals based upon their racial identity, and thereby is the root cause of inter-group racial inequality. Residential racial segregation,...
Publication
2018 Inclusiveness Index Spotlights #MeToo, Water Access, and Refugees
BERKELEY, CA: Issues of sexual violence against women, access to water, and the continuing refugee and migrant crises were among the most pressing challenges facing the world in 2018. The varied responses to these challenges by state bodies—both domestically and worldwide—contributed greatly to...
Publication
Racial Segregation in the San Francisco Bay Area, Part 1
By Stephen Menendian and Samir Gambhir * Oct. 29, 2018 Introduction Segregation is one of our nation’s most enduring and intractable problems. More than 60 years since the Supreme Court’s landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision denounced racial segregation in primary and secondary public...
Publication
Haas Institute releases 2017 Inclusiveness Index
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 31, 2017 Haas Institute releases its second annual Inclusiveness Index report. BERKELEY, CA: The Netherlands, Sweden, and Norway retained the top three spots in the Haas Institute’s 2017 Inclusiveness Index released today , which ranks nations based on their levels of...
Publication
The Ivory Tower Tax Haven
Ivory Tower Tax Haven
By Charlie Eaton This paper argues that private colleges with substantial endowment wealth have increasingly become ivory tower tax havens. The author, Charlie Eaton, explains that these colleges have been supported by three large federal tax expenditures. The three tax expenditures involve tax...
Publication
LITHC Report 2017
Opportunity, Race, and Low Income Housing Tax Credit Projects
This study comprehensively analyzes the administration of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program in California by examining LIHTC developments in the San Francisco Bay Area. This vitally important program shapes whether millions of Americans and their families have access to good jobs,...
Publication
Haas Institute Launches First Annual Inclusiveness Index that Measures Inclusivity and Marginality
The Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society proudly announces the first edition of their annual publication, entitled Inclusiveness Index 2016: Measuring Inclusion and Marginality . A premier research initiative for the Institute, this report represents the Institute’s efforts to measure...
Rise Together Report Cover
Promoting Family Economic Security in the San Francisco Bay Area Region
rise_together_pub.png June 3, 2015 This report, released by the Insight Center for Community Economic Development with data representations from the UC Berkeley Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society, is titled Promoting Family Economic Security in the San Francisco Bay Area Region . This...
Publication
Anchor Richmond Cover Image
Anchor Richmond Report: Community Opportunities & Anchor Strategies
Community activists and researchers at the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society released a report Oct. 30 calling on UC Berkeley to partner with existing residents to support the community vision for the largest development project in the city since World War II. The report, “ Anchor...
Publication