不良研究所

David Wachsmuth

Title: 
Associate Professor
David Wachsmuth
Contact Information
Email address: 
david.wachsmuth [at] mcgill.ca
Phone: 
514-398-4078
Office: 
Macdonald-Harrington Building, Room 405
Position: 
Canada Research Chair in Urban Governance
Degree(s): 

Ph.D., New York University (2014)

M.Sc.(Pl.), University of Toronto (2008)

B.A., 不良研究所 (2004)

Ph.D. dissertation
Post-city politics: US urban governance and competitive multi-city regionalism

Biography: 

David Wachsmuth is the Canada Research Chair in Urban Governance at 不良研究所, where he is also an Associate Professor in the School of Urban Planning. He directs UPGo, the Urban Politics and Governance research group at 不良研究所, where he leads a team of researchers investigating pressing urban governance problems related to economic development, environmental sustainability, and housing markets. He is the co-founder of Curbcut, an award-winning online platform for deep, dynamic, and intuitive exploration of urban sustainability in Canadian regions. He is one of the world鈥檚 leading experts on the impacts of short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb on cities around the world, and consults widely with municipalities and community organizations on designing appropriate regulations. Dr. Wachsmuth has published widely in top journals in urban studies, planning and geography, and his work has been covered extensively in the national and international media, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press, and the Washington Post.

Areas of interest: 

Urban and regional governance; urban political economy; critical urban theory; local economic development; smart cities; city-environment relations; urban entrepreneurialism and territorial competitiveness; the politics of public space; urban sustainability policy; social theory.

Awards, honours, and fellowships: 

2022 Canadian Open Data Excellence Award, Canadian Open Data Society

2020 President鈥檚 Medal for Outstanding Housing Research, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

2020 Principal鈥檚 Prize for Public Engagement through Media, 不良研究所

2019听Regional Studies, Regional Science article of the year

2018听Association of European Schools of Planning best published paper finalist

2016听Urban Studies article of the year runner up

Selected publications: 
  1. St-Hilaire, C., Brunila, M., & Wachsmuth, D. (2023). 鈥淗igh Rises and Housing Stress: A Spatial Big Data Analysis of Rental Housing Financialization鈥. Journal of the American Planning Association. Online first.
  2. Dodds, K., Castan Broto, V., Detterbeck, K., Jones, M., Mamadouh, V., Ramutsindela, M., Varsanyi, M., Wachsmuth, D., & Woon, C.Y. (2022). 鈥10th Anniversary of Territory, Politics, Governance: Achievements and Prospects鈥. Territory, Politics, Governance 10 (2): 145-158.
  3. Boeing, G., Besbris, M., Wachsmuth, D., and Wegmann, J. (2021). Tilted Platforms: Rental Housing Technology and the Rise of Urban Big Data Oligopolies. Urban Transformations 3 (6).
  4. Kerrigan, D. & Wachsmuth, D. (2021) 鈥淎irbnb, le partage du logement et le droit au logement 脿 Montr茅al鈥. Nouvelles Pratiques Sociales 31 (2): 382-404.
  5. Dodds, K., Castan Broto, V., Detterbeck, K., Jones, M., Mamadouh, V., Ramutsindela, M., Varsanyi, M., Wachsmuth, D., & Woon, C.Y. (2021). 鈥淭he COVID-19 Pandemic: Territorial, Political and Governance Dimensions of the Crisis鈥. Territory, Politics, Governance 8 (3): 289-298.
  6. Wachsmuth, D. & Kilfoil, P. (2021) 鈥淭wo Logics of Regionalism: The Development of a Regional Imaginary in the Toronto-Waterloo Innovation Corridor鈥. Regional Studies 55 (1): 63-76. Reprinted in J. Harrison, D. Galland, M. Tewdwr-Jones eds., Planning Regional Futures (London: Routledge, 2021)
  7. Angelo, H. & Wachsmuth, D. (2020) 鈥淲hy Does Everyone Think Cities Can Save the Planet?鈥 Urban Studies 57 (11): 2201-2221.听Reprinted in J. Hoff, Q. Gausset, S. Lex eds., Building a Sustainable Future: The Role of Non-State Actors in the Green Transition (London: Routledge, 2020).
  8. Combs, J., Kerrigan, D. & Wachsmuth, D. (2020) 鈥淪hort-term Rentals in Canada: Uneven Growth, Uneven Impacts鈥. Canadian Journal of Urban Research 29 (1): 119-134.
  9. Sigler, T. & Wachsmuth, D. (2020) 鈥淣ew directions in transnational gentrification: Tourism-led, state-led and lifestyle-led urban transformations鈥. Urban Studies 57 (15): 3190-3201.
  10. Deboosere, R., Kerrigan, D., Wachsmuth, D. & El-Geneidy, A. (2019) 鈥淟ocation, Location, and Professionalization: A Longitudinal Multilevel Analysis of Airbnb Listing Prices and Revenue鈥. Regional Studies, Regional Science 6 (1): 143-156.听Regional Studies, Regional Science article of the year
  11. Wachsmuth, D. (2019) 鈥淭he Territory and Politics of the Post-Fossil City鈥. Territory, Politics, Governance 7 (2): 135-140.
  12. Wachsmuth, D. & Weisler, A. (2018) 鈥淎irbnb and the Rent Gap: Gentrification Through the Sharing Economy鈥. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 50 (6): 1147-1170.听Association of European Schools of Planning best published paper finalist
  13. Wachsmuth, D. & Angelo, H. (2018) 鈥淕reen and Gray: New Ideologies of Nature in Urban Sustainability Policy鈥. Annals of the American Association of Geographers 108 (4): 1038-1056.
  14. Wachsmuth, D. (2017) 鈥淐ompetitive Multi-City Regionalism: Growth Politics Beyond the Growth Machine鈥. Regional Studies 51 (4): 643-653.
  15. Wachsmuth, D. (2017) 鈥淚nfrastructure Alliances: Supply-Chain Expansion and Multi-City Growth Coalitions鈥. Economic Geography 93 (1): 44-65.
  16. Sigler, T.J. & Wachsmuth, D. (2016) 鈥淭ransnational Gentrification: Globalisation and Neighbourhood Change in Panama鈥檚 Casco Antiguo鈥 Urban Studies 53 (4): 705-722.听Urban Studies article of the year runner up
  17. Angelo, H. & Wachsmuth, D. (2015) 鈥淯rbanizing Urban Political Ecology: A Critique of Methodological Cityism鈥. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 39 (1): 16-27.听Reprinted in N. Brenner ed., Implosions/Explosions: Towards a Study of Planetary Urbanization (Berlin: Jovis, 2014).

Selected talks and presentations: 
  1. B茅langer-de-Blois, M., Boulet-Garuk, D., Wachsmuth, D. (2022) 鈥淪US: An Urban Sustainability Explorer for the Montreal Region鈥, invited talk at HackQC: donn茅es ouvertes x transition 茅cologique, Montreal: September 22.
  2. Cordingley, C., Ezvan, E., Rodriguez Martinez, D., Angelo, H., Wachsmuth, D. (2022) 鈥淔inding the Green in Development Discourse: A Mixed-Methods Exploration of Urban Public Consultations鈥, invited presentation for the Office de consultation publique de Montr茅al, online: May 11.
  3. Wachsmuth, D. (2022) 鈥淭he Impact of Short-Term Rentals on Canadian Housing鈥, invited talk at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Expert Community of Housing symposium, online: March 22.
  4. Wachsmuth, D. (2022) 鈥淲hat Impact Has the Covid Pandemic Had on the Short-Term Rental Market in BC? And What Is the Post-Pandemic Recovery Going to Look Like?鈥, invited keynote at BC Tourism and Hospitality Conference, Richmond, BC: March 9.
  5. Wachsmuth, D. (2022) 鈥淲hat Is the Good City in Urban Theory and Policy?鈥 Invited talk at What Is a Good City? CIFAR-British Academy Virtual Knowledge Frontiers Symposium, online: February 22.
  6. Wachsmuth, D. (2021) 鈥淪hort-term Rentals During the Pandemic: What happened, and what should we do afterward?鈥, invited talk at ReformBnB conference, online: October 6.
  7. Wachsmuth, D. (2021) 鈥淪hort-term Rentals in Florida: Beyond Covid-19?鈥, invited talk at Florida Realtors annual conference, Orlando: August 25.
  8. Wachsmuth, D. (2021) 鈥淪hort-term Rentals and the Right to Housing鈥, invited presentation in the 21st Century Cities Initiative, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore: April 1, 2021.
  9. Wachsmuth, D. (2021) 鈥淢etabolisms of Green and Grey: Urban Nature in and Beyond the City鈥, invited presentation at The City as a Renewable Resource workshop, Universit脿 Iuav di Venezia, Venice, Italy: March 25, 2021.
  10. Wachsmuth, D. (2020) 鈥淲hat Can Cities Do? Local Planning in an Urban Age鈥, keynote presentation at Passion for Planning event series, Department of Community Planning, Calgary, Canada: December 10.
  11. Wachsmuth, D. (2020) 鈥淲hat Urban Planners Need to Know about Short-term Rentals鈥, keynote presentation at Ontario Professional Planners Institute annual conference, London, Canada: October 14.
  12. Wachsmuth, D. (2020) 鈥淪hort-term Rentals in Florida: Opportunities and Risks鈥, invited talk at Florida Realtors annual conference, Orlando: August 25.
  13. Wachsmuth, D. (2020) 鈥淪hort-term Rentals and the Financialization of Canadian Housing鈥, invited presentation at CMHC Rethinking Rental Symposium, Toronto: April 16. (Event cancelled due to COVID-19)
  14. Wachsmuth, D. (2020) 鈥淪hort-term Rentals in Jamaica: Opportunities and Threats鈥, invited presentation at Disruptive Forces in Tourism workshop, Kingston, Jamaica: March 11.
  15. Wachsmuth, D. (2020) 鈥淪hort-term Rentals and Housing: What鈥檚 the Problem?鈥, invited keynote at SHIFT EQUITY Conference, Dalhousie University, Halifax: March 7.
  16. Wachsmuth, D. (2019) 鈥淪hort-term Rentals in the Caribbean: Opportunities and Threats鈥, invited presentation at International Realtors Conference, Montego Bay, Jamaica: December 4.
  17. Wachsmuth, D. (2019) 鈥淪hort-term Rentals in Halifax: Politics and Policy鈥, invited lecture sponsored by Neighbours Speak Up, Halifax: November 14.
  18. Wachsmuth, D. (2019) 鈥淭he Politics and Policy of Short-term Rentals鈥, Saint Dunstan鈥檚 University Institute for Christianity and Culture public lecture, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown: October 30.
  19. Angelo, H. & Wachsmuth, D. (2019) 鈥淕lobal Problems, City Solutions: A Mixed Methods Analysis of Local Climate Adaptation Plans鈥, Urban Environment and Justice Collaborative lecture, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz: October 11.
  20. Wachsmuth, D. (2019) 鈥淎irbnb Friend or Foe? How to Make the Most of the Home-Sharing Trend鈥, invited talk at Florida Realtors annual conference, Orlando: August 22.
  21. Wachsmuth, D. (2019) 鈥淎 Vision for Living in a Sustainable Future鈥, invited talk at Conference of Montreal, Montr茅al: June 12.
  22. Wachsmuth, D. (2019) 鈥淪hort-term Rentals and Housing Affordability in Canada鈥, invited talk at Federation of Canadian Municipalities annual conference, Qu茅bec City: June 1.
  23. Wachsmuth, D. (2019) 鈥淟ibraries as Urban Infrastructure鈥, keynote address at Canadian Urban Libraries Council annual meeting, Montr茅al: May 14.
  24. Wachsmuth, D. (2019) 鈥淒ata and the Absence of Data in the Political Economy of Platform Urbanism鈥, invited contribution to Urban Platforms and the Future of Cities workshop, University of Manchester: February 28.
  25. Wachsmuth, D. (2018) 鈥淯rban Governance Between Cities and Beyond the City鈥, invited contribution to Governing Plural Cities roundtable, British Academy and Indian National Institute of Urban Affairs, Delhi: December 1.
  26. Wachsmuth, D. (2018) 鈥淎irbnb Versus New York: Housing in an Age of Short-term Rentals鈥, invited talk at Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University, New York City: November 20.
  27. Wachsmuth, D. (2018) 鈥淩egulating Short-term Rentals: What Works and What Doesn鈥檛鈥, keynote address at ReformBnb conference, New York City: November 19.
  28. Wachsmuth, D. (2018) 鈥淢etabolisms of Green and Grey: The Politics of Urban Nature in and beyond the City鈥, keynote address at Brussels Ecosystems conference, Metrolab.brussels, Brussels: October 18.
  29. Wachsmuth, D. (2018) 鈥淭he Role of Civil Society in Building New Alliances and New Knowledge for Sustainable Societies鈥, keynote address at the opening of the Centre for Sustainability and Society, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen: June 7.
  30. Wachsmuth, D. (2018) 鈥淲hat Can Cities Do?鈥, invited contribution to Saturated Cities colloquium, Concordia University, Montreal: March 17.
  31. Wachsmuth, D. (2018) 鈥淎irbnb Versus the City: The Political Economy of Short-term Rentals鈥, invited contribution to Journ茅e en droit social et du travail, Universit茅 du Qu茅bec 脿 Montr茅al, Montreal: March 16.
  32. Wachsmuth, D. (2018) 鈥淎irbnb Versus the City: The Political Economy of Short-term Rentals鈥, invited talk, Department of Geography, Carleton University, Ottawa: February 2.
  33. Wachsmuth, D. (2017) 鈥淲hat Is Airbnb Doing to New York鈥檚 Housing Market?鈥, invited contribution to West Side Tenants Conference, New York City: December 2.
  34. Wachsmuth, D. (2017) 鈥淯rban Metabolisms and the Socioecological Future鈥, invited contribution to Vocabularies for Urban Futures鈥 international workshop, British Academy, London: November 23.
  35. Wachsmuth, D. (2017) 鈥淧ost-City Politics: Urban Governance Under Conditions of Growth Coalition Instability鈥, Early Career Plenary address at The Great Awakening: New Directions, Regional Studies Association annual meeting, Dublin: June 5.
  36. Wachsmuth, D. (2016) 鈥淔rom Megalopolis to the Megaregion: A World of Cities or Planetary Urbaniation?鈥, keynote presentation at Paradoxes of Megalopolis international colloquium, Centro de Estudios Sociales y de Opini贸n P煤blica, Mexico City: July 26.

Back to top