Pamela Perlich, Ph.D. works as a Senior Research Economist in the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Utah, joining BEBR in 2000. Before joining the BEBR, she worked for seven years in the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget concentrating on long-term economic and demographic projections. In addition, she is Professor Adjunct in the Department of City & Metropolitan Planning, College of Architecture + Planning. She has taught in the program since 1998. She was selected the Professor of the Year (2011) for the College of Architecture + Planning. Pamela specializes in Utah demographics, applied regional economic studies, and economic and demographic modeling.

Utah is in the midst of an unprecedented demographic, economic, and cultural transformation.  These changes, which are interconnected, are driven by Utah’s connections to the outside world, including through markets, technology, and migration patterns. Utah’s formerly homogenous population is becoming much more multiethnic, multilingual, and multicultural and these changes are concentrated in the young generation. Simultaneously, economic globalization is reshaping Utah’s economy, and transforming Utah from a classic western economy to one which is much more diversified and based in urban areas. We will take a look at this Great Transformation and consider implications.

At the end of this session participants will be able to:

§Define and understand the cause, characteristics, and consequences of Utah’s demographic transformation.

§Understand how the population of the future will difference from the past – including age structure and racial / ethnic composition.

§Understand important spatial variation in these patterns.

AUCH Annual Meeting Schedule is now available.  Click here for a pdf version.