Adam Tanaka

Adam Tanaka is an urban planner and educator. His research, teaching, and professional practice focus on the complex interplay of public and private interests in city building, with a particular emphasis on large-scale urban revitalization and redevelopment.

Adam currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Therme US, a regional division of global wellbeing leader Therme Group. For over 20 years, Therme Group has combined historic traditions of thermal bathing with nature, technology, and culture to deliver the world’s most advanced wellbeing destinations at an affordable price point. Therme currently welcomes over three million visitors per year in its facilities in Central and Eastern Europe and has major projects in predevelopment in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Germany. In his role, Adam is coordinating strategic planning and predevelopment for the delivery of Therme Group’s inclusive wellbeing centers in a number of cities across the United States.

Prior to his role at Therme, Adam worked at HR&A Advisors, an industry leader in economic development, real estate, and urban policy consulting. Adam’s work at HR&A included negotiation support, financial analysis, economic and fiscal impact analysis, organizational design, and economic development strategy on behalf of public and private clients, including city governments, private developers, anchor institutions, and technology companies.

Adam is deeply involved in the education and mentorship of aspiring urban planners and developers. He was a visiting lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Design for the 2019-20 academic year and has delivered guest lectures on affordable housing and community development at MIT, NYU, Yale, CUNY, and the New School. Adam’s writing, filmmaking, and civic art projects have been published by the Boston Globe, CityLab, Crain’s New York, the Journal of Urban History, Slate, and the Van Alen Institute, among others.

Prior to joining HR&A, Adam received his PhD in urban planning from Harvard University, where his research focused on the history of large-scale, middle-income housing in New York City. While at Harvard, Adam taught courses on urban design and real estate finance, and helped launch an urban innovation summer program in partnership with the City of Paris.

Originally from London, England, Adam is a Fellow of the Urban Design Forum and previously served on the Program Committee for Open House New York, a non-profit organization that promotes public access to off-limits urban spaces.