Justin Steil

About Justin Steil

I analyze how power and inequality are created and contested through control over space. I build research relevant to and reflective of the experiences of poor and working people, from the ground up. I study health equity through work as a paramedic and housing inequality as a civil rights lawyer.

Areas of Expertise

Planning Law and Administration, Land Use Planning and Governance, Housing, Environmental Planning and Resource Management, Food Systems, Community Health and Safety

Selected Publications

Marcuse, P., Connolly, J., Novy, J., Olivo, I., Potter, C. & Steil, J. (Eds.). (2009). Searching for the Just City: Debates in Urban Theory and Practice. London: Routledge., Ellen, I. G. & Steil, J. (Eds.). (2019). The Dream Revisited: Contemporary Debates about Housing, Segregation, and Opportunity. New York: Columbia University Press., Steil, J., Kelly, N., Vale, L., & Woluchem, M. (Eds.). (2021). Furthering Fair Housing: Prospects for Racial Justice in America’s Neighborhoods. Philadelphia: Temple University Press., Steil, J. & Vasi, I. B. (2014). The New Immigration Contestation: Social Movements and Local Immigration Policymaking in the United States, 2000-2011. American Journal of Sociology 119(4), 1104-1155.

Recent Courses Taught

Place, Race, and Law: Land Use and Civil Rights Law.

Examines the intersection of race, place, and law by studying the how the use of land is controlled. The course explores three fundamental questions: who should control how land is used, how, and what are the implications for racial equity?, Laws of the Land: Environmental and Land Use Law.

Examines the intersection of environmental law with property and land use laws, and how they relate to environmental protection and climate change. , Housing Finance and Social Equity.

Advancing equity in housing requires rethinking the current housing finance system and raising foundational questions about how risk is understood, managed, and priced; how the housing finance system is structured and regulated; and how challenges related to climate change and resilience can be addressed. , Introduction to Housing, Community, and Economic Development.

Provides a critical introduction to the shape and determinants of political, social, and economic inequality in America, with a focus on racial and economic justice. Explores the role of the city in visions of justice.