Meet Paavo Monkkonen, visiting professor comparing housing policies in the US and Europe

Paavo Monkkonen is a Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, visiting with us this academic year. In this interview, he tells us about his research and ongoing projects.

Can you tell us about your academic background?

I was born and raised in Los Angeles, and studied at UC Berkeley and UCLA. But I’ve lived and worked for many years in different cities in Mexico (Tijuana, Mexico City, and Merida) and was an Assistant Professor at Hong Kong University for three years.

What is your research topic?

I study housing policies, especially land use planning as an important housing policy that is sometimes overlooked. In recent years I have focused on what we call fair housing in the US, which are the policies that seek to create integrated and mixed neighborhoods across a city, and promote housing affordability for lower-income households. My research is not only about policy analysis (here’s a recent example), but also about understanding the political conditions and governance institutions that create and sustain different policies (here’s an example).

Why did you choose to come to Sciences Po and to the Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics (CEE)?

I am excited to be at Sciences Po and the CEE. The mix of approaches to politics and public policies at the CEE is unique, and I am especially interested in comparative research on the connection between local and national politics around urban issues like housing affordability, segregation, and real estate development. I think the demand pressures in many major cities around the world will require sophisticated political mobilization for growth and inclusion, and failure to do so brings risks for national politics. So there are many researchers and students here working on topics I want to learn about! Also, my department at UCLA has a dual degree in Governing the Large Metropolis with the Urban School at Sciences Po, so it’s important to build relationships between the two schools.

What are your projects at the CEE during this stay?

I have two main research projects while in France. The first is a comparative analysis of the local and metropolitan politics and governance of housing development in France and the US. The second is a book project on housing policy, which uses cases from across the globe to illustrate the challenges of sustaining good housing policy. For that, I am studying different social housing systems in Europe but especially the French system.

You will be presenting your work here: can you tell us the details?

I look forward to presenting at the ‘Cities are back in town’ seminar on November 30th at Sciences Po. In January, I will participate in a seminar focused on Los Angeles at the Géographie-Cités lab in the Campus Condorcet. I’m also interested in meeting students and researchers while I am in France, so please reach out (paavo.monkkonen@ucla.edu). Students may also be interested in a podcast I co-host on housing research called the UCLA Housing Voice.

Interview by Véronique Etienne, October 2023.