Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I am an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning at the Technion- Israel Institute of Technology. Trained as both a lawyer and an urban planner, my work explores the intersection of planning, law, and property rights. I serve as Head of the Planning Policy Lab and lead the Klutznick Center for Urban and Regional Studies at the Technion.

Overall, my research focuses on planning law, land-use regulation, housing policy, heritage preservation, and urban governance. In recent years, I developed a comparative research agenda. One example is a forthcoming book on “vertical allocation”: the co-location of public amenities in mixed-use private development; exploring how public floorspace and amenities are negotiated and integrated within private developments. My work examines how planning systems balance private property rights with public needs in increasingly dense cities.

What are you passionate about?

I am fascinated by the way legal rules and planning institutions shape the cities we live in. For instance, in a book co-authored with the magnificent Eynat Mendelson-Shwartz, we explore how the city walls are shaped by regulation and urban policies (or lack thereof) creating a unique patina of murals and street art in each city. Indeed, city design and urban development are often discussed in terms of design, infrastructure, or housing supply, but behind every building there are legal frameworks, negotiations, and property rights that determine what can actually be built.

I am also passionate about comparative research. Looking at planning systems across different countries reveals how many planning practices we take for granted are actually the result of specific institutional, legal, ethical, and regulatory choices.

What are you working on these days?

Currently I am working on several projects dealing with density, housing policy, and the governance of urban development. One major project examines how cities around the world allocate public functions within mixed-use high-rise developments. This comparative work looks at 11 cities in Europe, North America, Asia, and elsewhere to understand how planning systems secure public space in vertical environments. A book I co-edited that deals with these questions will be published this year by UCL Press.

I am also involved in research on housing regulation and apartment size standards, as well as studies of planning procedures, TDRs, public rooftops, and regulatory change. Alongside academic writing, I continue to work on collaborative research initiatives and interdisciplinary projects that connect planning scholars, legal scholars, and policy practitioners.

What brings you to PLPR?

PLPR is one of the few academic communities where planning scholars, legal scholars, and property researchers regularly engage with each other. For someone working at the intersection of these fields, that makes the association intellectually invaluable.

I was first introduced to the Association by Prof. Rachelle Alterman who founded it in 2006 together with Prof. Leonie Janssen-Jansen. I participated as a young PhD student in the 2007 Warsaw conference and have been attending PLPR pretty much ever since. I met great colleagues and made good life-long friends in the association. I dedicated much of my time to it in the past 4 years as Co-Secretary General- managing our newsletter, working with conference hosts, and making sure our members are well-informed about everything on the association’s agenda I think the association is a unique blend of scholars from all continents and I am sure the new ExCo will do a great job in maintaining that.

Anecdote: things we don’t know about you?

I play ping pong; I am a comics aficionado (comics also appear in a new book I am co-editing with Prof. James White); In the past I used to create real-life dioramas; I am a trip-hop, techno, and EDM music freak. I have adopted 3 street cats, one of whom appears frequently as PLPR mascot.