Personal / Academic / Professional
SHOUTA
KANEHIRA
Urban Designer / Researcher / Designer / Artist
Founder, URBAN PATCH
Tokyo, Japan
Academic /
Professional Profile
Shouta Kanehira is an urban designer, researcher, designer, and artist whose work examines how environmental conditions, spatial form, and emerging technologies shape human behavior, public space, and knowledge-making.
His urban research investigates microclimate, thermal comfort, walkability, and ‘loiterability’—the conditions that influence whether people can comfortably walk, pause, gather, and remain in public space. His work combines environmental sensing, spatial analysis, observation, computer vision, design experimentation, and interactive decision-support tools.
In parallel, his research on Epistemic Co-Inquiry examines human–AI dialogue as a form of collaborative knowledge production in which humans remain responsible for reasoning, verification, judgment, and accountability.
Kanehira is the founder of URBAN PATCH, an independent multidisciplinary design and research practice based in Tokyo.
Research Themes
Urban Microclimate & Loiterability
How do heat, shade, and thermal comfort influence walking, pausing, gathering, and staying in public space? This research examines urban microclimate alongside spatial conditions and public-space behavior, extending questions of walkability toward loiterability.
Climate-Responsive Public Space & Urban Tools
How can environmental evidence inform public-space design? Environmental sensing, spatial analysis, observation, and computer vision are areas of investigation for climate-responsive interventions, interactive urban tools, and participatory decision-support systems. Prototypes and proposed systems form different stages of this research direction.
Epistemic Co-Inquiry / Human–AI Interaction
How can human–AI dialogue support collaborative knowledge production while maintaining human responsibility? Epistemic Co-Inquiry examines reasoning, challenge and counterargument, external verification, and judgment, with accountability remaining with the human participant.
Selected Research
A connected urban-research trajectory—from climate-responsive movement to the conditions of staying, and toward participatory design decision support.
01 / Movement
Cool Scape
Shade-aware mapping and climate-responsive walking.
02 / Staying
Loiterable City
Environmental and spatial conditions for comfortable public life.
03 / Decision Support
Loiterable City Sandbox
A tangible, participatory urban-design framework in development.
Publications &
Preprints
2026 / Working Paper / Preprint
Beyond the AI Assistant: Human-AI Dialogue as Epistemic Co-Inquiry
Shouta Kanehira
URBAN PATCH
Research Profiles
Professional
Experience
URBAN PATCH
Founder · Tokyo, Japan
Independent multidisciplinary design and research practice.
Overland Partners
Project Coordinator
Index Consulting
Consultant
HKS Architects, New York
Urban Designer
Tange Associates
Designer
Education
Columbia University GSAPP
Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
MS in Architecture and Urban Design
Chiba University Graduate School of Engineering
Master of Engineering in Urban Planning
Chiba University
Bachelor of Engineering in Urban Planning
Sapporo School of the Arts
Associate Degree in Architecture