"Cities, Housing, and Real Estate" Chair

The aim of the “Cities, Housing and Real Estate" Chair is to contribute to analysis of changes within the real estate sector, from the unique perspective of an approach rooted in the theoretical and methodological tools of the social sciences.

Many of the major developments affecting members of the real estate sector today fall within this scope of analysis: examples include changes to public housing policies (national and local), the dynamics of metropolisation, the impact of climate change on cities, or socio-demographic shifts within cities and regions.

The health crisis (Covid-19) reinforces a number of questions and opens up research perspectives on the nature of real estate production, its financing, and its geography for years to come.

Finally, at a time when French property developers are increasingly involved in the production of urban spaces and when large-scale metropolitan projects (such as France’s Grand Paris Express rail network or consultations like the “Inventons la Métropole du Grand Paris” initiative) are redefining our ways of thinking about real estate projects and public/private sector interaction, a more systematic analysis of property challenges through the prism of contemporary urban dynamics seems more essential than ever.

Three sponsors have agreed to support the chair over the course of a three-year partnership: CDC Habitat, FPI France and Gecina.