Bollens is professor of urban planning and holder of the
Warmington Endowed Chair of Peace and International
Cooperation at University of California, Irvine. The
author conducted research in Belfast, Northern Ireland
(March-June 2016) and Jerusalem, Israel/Palestine
(October 2015-February 2016). During that time,
he carried out 121 interviews with political leaders,
urban professionals, community and nongovernmental
organization representatives and academic experts. A book
on this research is forthcoming, tentatively titled Nationalistic Conflicts in the City:
Jerusalem and Belfast 1994-2016.