Ron Buliung

Campus

• Mississauga (UTM)

Fields of Study

• Disability Studies
• Policy & Planning
• Social & Political Geography
• Transport & Urban Geography

Areas of Interest

Disability studies, rehabilitation science, transport geography, child and youth geographies.

Biography

Ron Buliung is a Professor in the Department of Geography, Geomatics and Environment at the University of Toronto Mississauga. He hold graduate faculty appointments in the Department of Geography and Planning (St. George) and the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute. He holds a PhD in Urban Geography from McMaster University. Ron has dedicated his career to studying the experiences of children and youth in cities. Early on, his work centred on the journey to school, and how school travel connects with and impacts childhood health. His research program currently focuses almost exclusively on the various ways in which disability and ableism are produced by and are embedded within the institutions that govern and make the places within cities where we live, work, play, and learn.

Administrative Service

• Interim Vice Dean Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs (UTM)
• Graduate Chair Geography and Planning (Previous)
• Associate Chair, Research (UTM GGE)

Selected Publications

Buliung, R. (2024). 15-minute cities, ‘walkability’ and last millimeter problems. Disability & Society, 40(5), 1425–1429. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2024.2385919

Comeau, É., Chan, A., Buliung, R., Lewis, I., & Ross, T. (2025). Understanding the manifestations and impacts of ableism in school transportation: a scoping review. Transport Reviews, 45(4), 514–536. https://doi.org/10.1080/01441647.2025.2486002

Ross, T., Buliung, R., Titchkosky, T., & Hess, P. (2023). Engaging Disability Theory in Planning Practice. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 44(4), 1946-1955. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X231175595 (Original work published 2024)

Buliung, R., Bilas, P., Ross, T., Marmureanu, C., El-Geneidy, A. (2021). More than Just a Bus Trip: School Busing, Disability and Access to Education in Toronto, Canada. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 148: 496-505. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2021.04.005

Schwartz, N., Buliung, R., & Wilson, K. (2021). Experiences of food access among disabled adults in Toronto, Canada. Disability & Society, 38(4), 610–634. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2021.1949265

Ross, T., & Buliung, R. (2019). Access work: Experiences of parking at school for families living with childhood disability. Transportation research part A: policy and practice, 130, 289-299. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2019.08.016