Faculty Bio: Jenna Davis

Title:
Assistant Professor
Room #:
W1608
Phone:
(212) 772-5591
Specialty
Areas:
Zoning, urban development, housing, quantitative methods, and political economy of zoning reform

Common Courses Taught

Urban Data Analysis
Introduction to Housing

Education

PhD in Urban Planning, Columbia University
Master of Regional Planning, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Bachelor of Arts, Barnard College

Biography

Jenna Davis is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban Policy and Planning. Her research investigates how zoning regulations shape urban development and impact housing inequalities in the United States. She also investigates the political economy of zoning reform. In her scholarly work, she uses mixed methods approaches, leveraging big data, geographic information systems, and qualitative methods. Her work previously has been published in journals such as the Journal of Urban Affairs, Journal of the American Planning Association, Journal of Planning Education and Research, City & Community, and Land Use Policy. Previously, Jenna was a visiting faculty member in the Urban Studies program at Barnard College and a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley.

Prior to academia, Davis was a Senior Policy Analyst at the Institute for Children, Poverty, and Homelessness, where she conducted research on the educational outcomes of unhoused students enrolled in the New York City public school system. Jenna also worked at the Citizens Budget Commission, performing research on property tax reform in New York City, and worked in marketing and operations at a real estate technology startup.

She holds a PhD in urban planning from Columbia University, an MRP in regional planning from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a BA in urban studies from Barnard College.