Ibrahim Ghanem

Education Pathway

(M.A.) Spatial Analysis, (2019–2020) — Toronto Metropolitan University
(M.A.) Economics of International Development, (2010–2012) — the American University in Cairo
(B.A.) Business Administration & Economics, (2006–2009) — the American University in Cairo

Analytical Projects

Walkability and Wellbeing of Racialized Communities in Canada., (2025–Present): Investigating how walkability impacts the experiences of racialized communities. The project collects and analyzes various types of primary and secondary data (e.g., census data, qualitative data, survey data, and spatial data) to provide recommendations for public health and urban planning policies. (Website coming soon)
Pedaling Towards Equity, (2025–Present): Conducting a mixed-methods research with a team from University of Toronto's Department of Geography and Planning to identify and address cycling barriers and attrition among equity-deserving groups in Toronto.
Allocation of Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) Resources, (2023–2025): Designed and applied a spatial econometric model for allocating resources to support the expansion of affordable childcare resources in York Region. The project utilized children deomgpraphic and locational data to identify prioirity neighbourhoods for the different rounds of funding.
Analysis and Outcome Evaluation of York Region's Transit Assistance Program (TAP) , (2022–2023): Established quantitative frameworks to capture TAP usage across customer demographic profiles, and conducted outcome evaluation to assess program effectiveness, as part of transitioning the program from pilot to permanent implementation.

Brief Introduction

"Places shape behaviours." Ibn Khaldoun

Using data driven and community informed approaches, my work examines the relationship between a neighbourhood social and physical conditions and the well-being of residents, as part of informing health planning policies.

Research interests: health/medical geography, neighbourhood environments and health, contextual and non-medical determinants of health, physical activity, walkability, immigrants health, and spatial access to services.
Analytical skills: quantitative geography, mixed-methods, Geo-spatial data science, spatial econometrics, Geographic information systems (GIS), statistics, and cartography.

In my free time, I am either practicing Olympic recurve archery, exploring maps created by ancient geographers and explorers (e.g., Alsherif Al-Idrissi, Zakariya Al-Qzwini, and Abu El-Hasan El-Masudi), or discovering hiking trails and nature (See glimpses from my journeys).

Overview of PhD Dissertation

The dissertation investigates how built-environment shapes the health and expeinces of Canadian racialized communities.

The first part examines the association between objective walkability metrics and chronic diseases, with a focus on diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
The second part shifts to understanding perceived walkability among racialized residents, through a mixed-methods approach that include participatory mapping and analysis of neighbourhood characteristics. This understanding will help in adapting the Neighbourhood Environment Walkability Scale (NEWS) to reflect the experiences of racialized populations in Canada. The adapted survey will be used to collect quantitative data and generate perceived walkability scores across a sample of neighbourhoods in the Metropolitan Toronto.
Lastly, the third part applies spatial econometrics and non-stationary methods to investigate the association between access of Canadian Metropolitan areas' residents to basic amenities and health outcomes.

The findings of the dissertation are expected to guide interventions targeting chronic disease prevention and inform urban planning strategies focusing on the creation of inclusive neighbourhoods.

Recent Work and Activities

November 2025A github website for the GIS and Population Health course - GGR322 is now available for showcasing student project outcomes
September 2025Received the 2025 Network for Healthy Populations Award for advancing health equity and chronic disease research.
August 2025Concluded a six-month data collection phase with the CHaNGE Lab team, where we integrated participatory mapping and quantitative survey approaches to capture perceived walkability across Metropolitan Toronto.
April 2025Achieved Phd Candidacy.
March 2025 Presented at the American Association of Geographers (AAG). Research Title: Identifying Biking Potential in Toronto’s Underserved Communities: From Spatial Access to Survey Inquiry.
January 2025 Presented ongoing research at the Network for Healthy Populations-BBDC Joint Clinical and Population Research-in-Progress Rounds. Research Title: Analysis of the Impact of Neighbourhood Walkability on the Presence of Chronic Diseases among the Arab populations in Canada.