Dimitris Milakis

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT DIMITRIS MILAKIS

With an engineering background that evolved to transport geography, planning, and policy, my research explores the nexus between transport innovations and societal dynamics. I adopt a socio-technical perspective that places societal actors at the heart of innovation. Through an in-depth exploration of societal acceptance, societal implications, and governance of transport innovations, I advocate for more socially constructed innovations beyond the techno-operational emphasis prevalent in scholarly and professional practice. In my research, I consider transport innovations to be the novel and fast-growing technological or social innovations that allow people to move and accomplish activities in the real, computer-generated or blended worlds. They have the potential for considerable societal implications. Yet, their most prominent impact, lie in the future while in the emergence phase are still uncertain and ambiguous. Examples of transport innovations include automated vehicles, vehicle sharing, mobility-as-a-service (MaaS), passenger and freight drones, micro-mobility, Hyperloop, AI applications in the transport system (in real world), as well as virtual and augmented reality tools and apps allowing someone to work, shop, recreate, and socially interact within computer-generated and blended worlds.My research philosophy is rooted in critical realism. I acknowledge that real world exist (ontological realism), yet our understanding of that world is influenced by social, cultural, ecological, political, psychological, economic and other background factors (epistemological relativism). I strive to understand these background mechanisms in-depth by developing theories and concepts, empirically exploring them through qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods, and eventually informing effective, human-centered, environmentally and socially sustainable transport policies and innovations.I have led, contributed, and advised on multiple research projects across Greece, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway and within the EU framework research programmes on transport innovations and society, land use and transport interactions, human perceptions of mobility and cycling mobility. My publications on transport innovations and society are among the most read and cited in the field. I have held teaching and research positions at several leading universities, including Delft University of Technology, University of California, Berkeley, Technical University of Munich, University of Patras, and the National Technical University of Athens.