Alan Walks

My Research Interests

I am an associate professor of urban planning and geography at the University of Toronto, Mississauga. My research is primarily concerned with understanding the causes, forms, and consequences of rising urban social and political polarization. Among other things, I have published research looking at urban debtscapes, gentrification, housing policy and homelessness, suburbanization, gated communities, ghetto formation and immigrant segregation, condominium development, automobility, and the political- ideological effects of urban form. My current research project examines the importance of rising household indebtedness, housing (in)affordability, and mortgage-market policies for changing articulations of urban inequality. I am the editor of the book “The Urban Political Economy and Ecology of Automobility: Driving Cities, Driving Inequality, Driving Politics” (Routledge 2015), and co-editor of the book “The Political Ecology of the Metropolis” (ECPR 2013).

I participate in the following research clusters:

Economic Development
Urbanization, Transportation & Health

Graduate Student Recruitment

I am recruiting grad students who are proposing to examine pertinent issues related to the geography of financialization in Canada, including questions related to housing markets, foreclosures, payday lenders, automobile lending, and related topics.