Emmanuel Proussaloglou

Since growing up in Illinois, Emmanuel’s academic and professional pursuits have been motivated by a desire to leverage his studies towards actionable solutions. His education has focused on designing physical structures, as well as understanding and shaping the larger planning regimes in which those structures are situated. As a dual degree student in Architecture and Urban Planning, Emmanuel believes that his role lies in balancing the two disciplines.

Professionally, Emmanuel’s work with cityLAB, the Brookings Institution and Perkins&Will has taught him about the potential of interdisciplinary work and research, as well as the roles that these entities play in shaping the built environment. Together, these experiences have bolstered his belief in the power of design-based research to affect legislation and create new opportunities for building differently.

Emmanuel attended Northwestern University for undergraduate where he studied Political Science, Environmental Policy, and Chemistry.

Project Overview

My project investigates the characteristics of affordable housing projects funded by the low-income housing tax credit. I am looking at these projects nationwide to assess whether there are significant differences between affordable housing projects that are sited in so-called “high opportunity neighborhoods,” versus those that are not. This distinction is significant because high opportunity neighborhoods – or areas with better economic, educational, and health outcomes for residents – do not contain much affordable housing and are often the most sought after neighborhoods in a metro area.
That being said, these are the exact neighborhoods that many affordable housing advocates want to see more affordable housing units built in.

Essentially, the foundation of this research is that we should learn from existing projects that are successfully sited in high opportunity neighborhoods to better understand their defining characteristics. In doing so, we might influence the design of projects and make high opportunity siting more likely moving forward.

Why is this topic, specifically, important to you?

This project grew out of an academic research project that I conducted under Professor Richard Sander in the UCLA School of Law. His class looked at the causes of housing segregation, and my research project explored whether the number of units in an affordable housing project was associated with the poverty rate of the larger neighborhood it is situated in.
Beyond that, I have a strong interest in affordable housing from both an architectural and planning standpoint. I think that finding ways to build more affordable housing, especially in high opportunity communities, is a critical strategy to alleviating the housing crisis. More importantly, doing so also helps to push back against the structural barriers that are faced by low-income individuals who are often priced out of the most desirable communities in the country.

Who are the partners involved in this project and how will you be working with them?

While I don’t have any formal partners in this work, I am relying on data from two national organizations: the National Housing Preservation Database and the Federal Housing and Finance Agency.

How do you hope that this project will impact the field moving forward?

My hope is that my findings will contribute to the growing conversation around the power of high opportunity areas and the importance of building affordable housing in these communities. I am also hopeful that my approach, which investigates affordable housing from a more design focused perspective, will spur additional research from architects who have largely avoided academic research as a means of testing design and policy ideas.