Faculty Directory

Suzanne Lanyi Charles is an Assistant Professor of Urban Planning at the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan. Dr. Charles's scholarly and teaching interests include residential redevelopment and neighborhood change, the design of housing and urban environments, and real estate finance and development. Her current research examines gentrification in postwar suburban neighborhoods. She has presented her work at academic conferences nationally and internationally, and she is currently working on a book based upon her doctoral dissertation "Suburban Gentrification: Residential Redevelopment and Neighborhood Change."

Dr. Charles's research has received several honors including a Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and research grants from the Real Estate Academic Initiative at Harvard University. She was the John R. Meyer Fellow at the Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard's center for scholarly research on housing issues.

Prior to joining the University of Michigan, Dr. Charles served as a Lecturer in Urban Planning and Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD). A licensed architect and a LEED Accredited Professional, she has worked as an architect at the Renzo Piano Building Workshop in Paris, France and as a Vice President at Booth Hansen Architects in Chicago. She received her doctorate in urban planning from the Harvard GSD.

Working Papers

• Charles, S. L. (2011). Suburban gentrification: understanding the determinants of single-family residential redevelopment, a case study of the inner-ring suburbs of Chicago, 2000-2010. Working Paper W11-1. Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard University.

Conference Presentations (selected)

• Charles, S. L. (2011). Suburban gentrification: the spatial and temporal pattern of residential redevelopment in the inner-ring suburbs of Chicago, USA. Paper presented at the Research Committee 21 Conference (Sociology of Urban and Regional Development) International Sociological Association, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, July 7.
• Charles, S. L. (2011). There goes the (suburban) neighborhood: gentrification in the inner-ring suburbs of Chicago, 2000-2010. Paper presented at the Suburbs and the 2010 Census Conference, Arlington, VA, July 15.
• Charles, S. L. (2011). Exploring the contours of suburban gentrification. Paper presented at the Urban Affairs Association (UAA) Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, March 18.
• Charles, S. L. (2009). Rebuilding suburbia: the spatial and temporal dynamics of single-family residential redevelopment. Paper presented at the Diverse Suburb: History, Politics, and Prospects Conference at Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, October 24.
• Charles, S. L. (2009). Suburban gentrification? Paper presented at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) Annual Meeting, Washington DC, October 3.
• Charles, S. L. (2009). Suburban gentrification: examining the determinants of single-family residential redevelopment. Paper presented at the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association (AREUEA) Mid-year Meeting, Washington DC, June 4.