Yeonhwa Lee

Assistant Professor of Real Estate Development

Yeonhwa Lee is an Assistant Professor of Real Estate Development. She draws on the disciplines of planning, geography, urban sociology, and urban economics to examine how the interrelated factors of residential mobility, neighborhood change, and housing policy shape socio spatial landscapes with material consequences to the life chances and wellbeing of individuals and communities. Her research focuses on how these processes and outcomes vary by race and class and how they exacerbate or alleviate urban inequality, particularly regarding access to well resourced, high-opportunity neighborhoods. With an emphasis on distilling actionable insights for policymakers, her research spans urban issues such as gentrification, segregation, and neighborhood social diversity; policy interventions such as subsidized housing and inclusionary zoning; and novel data and methodological approaches to understanding patterns of residential mobility and neighborhood change.
She holds a PhD in City and Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania, a MSc in International Planning from the Bartlett School of Planning, University College London, and a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) from the University of Pennsylvania.