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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., Ď㽶ĘÓƵ (2004)

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

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Biography: 

David Wachsmuth is the Canada Research Chair in Urban Governance at Ď㽶ĘÓƵ, where he is also an Associate Professor in the School of Urban Planning. He directs UPGo, the Urban Politics and Governance research group at McGill, 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’s 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.

Link(s): 
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.

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Awards, honours, and fellowships: 

2022 Canadian Open Data Excellence Award, Canadian Open Data Society

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

2020 Principal’s Prize for Public Engagement through Media, Ď㽶ĘÓƵ

2019ĚýRegional Studies, Regional Science article of the year

2018ĚýAssociation of European Schools of Planning best published paper finalist

2016ĚýUrban Studies article of the year runner up

Selected publications: 
  1. St-Hilaire, C., Brunila, M., & Wachsmuth, D. (2023). “High Rises and Housing Stress: A Spatial Big Data Analysis of Rental Housing Financialization”. 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). “10th Anniversary of Territory, Politics, Governance: Achievements and Prospects”. 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) “Airbnb, le partage du logement et le droit au logement à Montréal”. 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). “The COVID-19 Pandemic: Territorial, Political and Governance Dimensions of the Crisis”. Territory, Politics, Governance 8 (3): 289-298.
  6. Wachsmuth, D. & Kilfoil, P. (2021) “Two Logics of Regionalism: The Development of a Regional Imaginary in the Toronto-Waterloo Innovation Corridor”. 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) “Why Does Everyone Think Cities Can Save the Planet?” Urban Studies 57 (11): 2201-2221.ĚýReprinted 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) “Short-term Rentals in Canada: Uneven Growth, Uneven Impacts”. Canadian Journal of Urban Research 29 (1): 119-134.
  9. Sigler, T. & Wachsmuth, D. (2020) “New directions in transnational gentrification: Tourism-led, state-led and lifestyle-led urban transformations”. Urban Studies 57 (15): 3190-3201.
  10. Deboosere, R., Kerrigan, D., Wachsmuth, D. & El-Geneidy, A. (2019) “Location, Location, and Professionalization: A Longitudinal Multilevel Analysis of Airbnb Listing Prices and Revenue”. Regional Studies, Regional Science 6 (1): 143-156.ĚýRegional Studies, Regional Science article of the year
  11. Wachsmuth, D. (2019) “The Territory and Politics of the Post-Fossil City”. Territory, Politics, Governance 7 (2): 135-140.
  12. Wachsmuth, D. & Weisler, A. (2018) “Airbnb and the Rent Gap: Gentrification Through the Sharing Economy”. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 50 (6): 1147-1170.ĚýAssociation of European Schools of Planning best published paper finalist
  13. Wachsmuth, D. & Angelo, H. (2018) “Green and Gray: New Ideologies of Nature in Urban Sustainability Policy”. Annals of the American Association of Geographers 108 (4): 1038-1056.
  14. Wachsmuth, D. (2017) “Competitive Multi-City Regionalism: Growth Politics Beyond the Growth Machine”. Regional Studies 51 (4): 643-653.
  15. Wachsmuth, D. (2017) “Infrastructure Alliances: Supply-Chain Expansion and Multi-City Growth Coalitions”. Economic Geography 93 (1): 44-65.
  16. Sigler, T.J. & Wachsmuth, D. (2016) “Transnational Gentrification: Globalisation and Neighbourhood Change in Panama’s Casco Antiguo” Urban Studies 53 (4): 705-722.ĚýUrban Studies article of the year runner up
  17. Angelo, H. & Wachsmuth, D. (2015) “Urbanizing Urban Political Ecology: A Critique of Methodological Cityism”. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 39 (1): 16-27.ĚýReprinted in N. Brenner ed., Implosions/Explosions: Towards a Study of Planetary Urbanization (Berlin: Jovis, 2014).

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Selected talks and presentations: 
  1. Bélanger-de-Blois, M., Boulet-Garuk, D., Wachsmuth, D. (2022) “SUS: An Urban Sustainability Explorer for the Montreal Region”, invited talk at HackQC: données ouvertes x transition écologique, Montreal: September 22.
  2. Cordingley, C., Ezvan, E., Rodriguez Martinez, D., Angelo, H., Wachsmuth, D. (2022) “Finding the Green in Development Discourse: A Mixed-Methods Exploration of Urban Public Consultations”, invited presentation for the Office de consultation publique de Montréal, online: May 11.
  3. Wachsmuth, D. (2022) “The Impact of Short-Term Rentals on Canadian Housing”, invited talk at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Expert Community of Housing symposium, online: March 22.
  4. Wachsmuth, D. (2022) “What 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?”, invited keynote at BC Tourism and Hospitality Conference, Richmond, BC: March 9.
  5. Wachsmuth, D. (2022) “What Is the Good City in Urban Theory and Policy?” Invited talk at What Is a Good City? CIFAR-British Academy Virtual Knowledge Frontiers Symposium, online: February 22.
  6. Wachsmuth, D. (2021) “Short-term Rentals During the Pandemic: What happened, and what should we do afterward?”, invited talk at ReformBnB conference, online: October 6.
  7. Wachsmuth, D. (2021) “Short-term Rentals in Florida: Beyond Covid-19?”, invited talk at Florida Realtors annual conference, Orlando: August 25.
  8. Wachsmuth, D. (2021) “Short-term Rentals and the Right to Housing”, invited presentation in the 21st Century Cities Initiative, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore: April 1, 2021.
  9. Wachsmuth, D. (2021) “Metabolisms of Green and Grey: Urban Nature in and Beyond the City”, invited presentation at The City as a Renewable Resource workshop, Università Iuav di Venezia, Venice, Italy: March 25, 2021.
  10. Wachsmuth, D. (2020) “What Can Cities Do? Local Planning in an Urban Age”, keynote presentation at Passion for Planning event series, Department of Community Planning, Calgary, Canada: December 10.
  11. Wachsmuth, D. (2020) “What Urban Planners Need to Know about Short-term Rentals”, keynote presentation at Ontario Professional Planners Institute annual conference, London, Canada: October 14.
  12. Wachsmuth, D. (2020) “Short-term Rentals in Florida: Opportunities and Risks”, invited talk at Florida Realtors annual conference, Orlando: August 25.
  13. Wachsmuth, D. (2020) “Short-term Rentals and the Financialization of Canadian Housing”, invited presentation at CMHC Rethinking Rental Symposium, Toronto: April 16. (Event cancelled due to COVID-19)
  14. Wachsmuth, D. (2020) “Short-term Rentals in Jamaica: Opportunities and Threats”, invited presentation at Disruptive Forces in Tourism workshop, Kingston, Jamaica: March 11.
  15. Wachsmuth, D. (2020) “Short-term Rentals and Housing: What’s the Problem?”, invited keynote at SHIFT EQUITY Conference, Dalhousie University, Halifax: March 7.
  16. Wachsmuth, D. (2019) “Short-term Rentals in the Caribbean: Opportunities and Threats”, invited presentation at International Realtors Conference, Montego Bay, Jamaica: December 4.
  17. Wachsmuth, D. (2019) “Short-term Rentals in Halifax: Politics and Policy”, invited lecture sponsored by Neighbours Speak Up, Halifax: November 14.
  18. Wachsmuth, D. (2019) “The Politics and Policy of Short-term Rentals”, Saint Dunstan’s University Institute for Christianity and Culture public lecture, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown: October 30.
  19. Angelo, H. & Wachsmuth, D. (2019) “Global Problems, City Solutions: A Mixed Methods Analysis of Local Climate Adaptation Plans”, Urban Environment and Justice Collaborative lecture, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz: October 11.
  20. Wachsmuth, D. (2019) “Airbnb Friend or Foe? How to Make the Most of the Home-Sharing Trend”, invited talk at Florida Realtors annual conference, Orlando: August 22.
  21. Wachsmuth, D. (2019) “A Vision for Living in a Sustainable Future”, invited talk at Conference of Montreal, Montréal: June 12.
  22. Wachsmuth, D. (2019) “Short-term Rentals and Housing Affordability in Canada”, invited talk at Federation of Canadian Municipalities annual conference, Québec City: June 1.
  23. Wachsmuth, D. (2019) “Libraries as Urban Infrastructure”, keynote address at Canadian Urban Libraries Council annual meeting, Montréal: May 14.
  24. Wachsmuth, D. (2019) “Data and the Absence of Data in the Political Economy of Platform Urbanism”, invited contribution to Urban Platforms and the Future of Cities workshop, University of Manchester: February 28.
  25. Wachsmuth, D. (2018) “Urban Governance Between Cities and Beyond the City”, invited contribution to Governing Plural Cities roundtable, British Academy and Indian National Institute of Urban Affairs, Delhi: December 1.
  26. Wachsmuth, D. (2018) “Airbnb Versus New York: Housing in an Age of Short-term Rentals”, invited talk at Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University, New York City: November 20.
  27. Wachsmuth, D. (2018) “Regulating Short-term Rentals: What Works and What Doesn’t”, keynote address at ReformBnb conference, New York City: November 19.
  28. Wachsmuth, D. (2018) “Metabolisms of Green and Grey: The Politics of Urban Nature in and beyond the City”, keynote address at Brussels Ecosystems conference, Metrolab.brussels, Brussels: October 18.
  29. Wachsmuth, D. (2018) “The Role of Civil Society in Building New Alliances and New Knowledge for Sustainable Societies”, keynote address at the opening of the Centre for Sustainability and Society, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen: June 7.
  30. Wachsmuth, D. (2018) “What Can Cities Do?”, invited contribution to Saturated Cities colloquium, Concordia University, Montreal: March 17.
  31. Wachsmuth, D. (2018) “Airbnb Versus the City: The Political Economy of Short-term Rentals”, invited contribution to Journée en droit social et du travail, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal: March 16.
  32. Wachsmuth, D. (2018) “Airbnb Versus the City: The Political Economy of Short-term Rentals”, invited talk, Department of Geography, Carleton University, Ottawa: February 2.
  33. Wachsmuth, D. (2017) “What Is Airbnb Doing to New York’s Housing Market?”, invited contribution to West Side Tenants Conference, New York City: December 2.
  34. Wachsmuth, D. (2017) “Urban Metabolisms and the Socioecological Future”, invited contribution to Vocabularies for Urban Futures’ international workshop, British Academy, London: November 23.
  35. Wachsmuth, D. (2017) “Post-City Politics: Urban Governance Under Conditions of Growth Coalition Instability”, Early Career Plenary address at The Great Awakening: New Directions, Regional Studies Association annual meeting, Dublin: June 5.
  36. Wachsmuth, D. (2016) “From Megalopolis to the Megaregion: A World of Cities or Planetary Urbaniation?”, keynote presentation at Paradoxes of Megalopolis international colloquium, Centro de Estudios Sociales y de Opinión Pública, Mexico City: July 26.

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