Paavo Monkkonen

Associate Professor
University of California, Los Angeles

Paavo Monkkonen is an Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy at the Luskin School of Public Affairs and the Director of the Latin American Cities Initiative at the University of California, Los Angeles. He researches and teaches about the impacts of housing policies on urbanization, social segregation, and housing affordability. Much of Dr. Monkkonen’s research is comparative, covering cities and policies in Latin America, Asia, and the United States. Examples include the ways a national mortgage finance program transformed urbanization in Mexico over the last three decades, and the differing impacts of land use regulations on housing outcomes in Indonesia, Argentina, and California. His research has been funded by the organizations such as the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Regional Studies Association, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, and the Global Development Network. Current projects focus on zoning reform and Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing in California and the implementation of a new urban planning law in Mexico. Dr. Monkkonen completed a Master of Public Policy at UCLA in 2005, and a PhD in City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley in 2009. He was Assistant Professor of Urban Planning at the University of Hong Kong from 2009 to 2012. 

  • This study evaluates the effectiveness of local government land use policies in promoting inclusive neighborhoods by introducing a novel Fair Housing Land Use Score (FHLUS).

    July 12, 2023

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    Evidence

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  • Getty Images

    As currently defined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH), part of the Fair Housing Act, has four goals: “a) addressing significant disparities in housing needs and in access to opportunity, b) replacing segregated living patterns with truly integrated and balanced living patterns, c) transforming racially and ethnica

    May 24, 2022

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    P4A Spark

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  • Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH), enhancing federal efforts to hold local governments accountable in reducing segregation. The Trump administration rescinded this rule in early 2018, but eight states continue to implement AFFH programs. With recent legislation incorporating AFFH in its Housing Element Law, California now has perhaps the most expansive approach to AFFH in the country. All local governments in the state must update the Housing Element of their general plan over the next two years (2020-2022), a process through which they must plan to accommodate housing growth over an eight-year period and demonstrate to the state they have zoned an adequate number of sites for low-income housing.

    January 14, 2021

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    Has Evidence

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