I am currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, where I received my PhD in City and Regional Planning in August 2023.

I draw on the disciplines of planning, geography, urban sociology, and urban economics to study how the interrelated factors of residential mobility, neighborhood change, and housing policy shape socio-spatial landscapes with material consequences to the life chances and wellbeing of individuals and communities. I focus on how these processes and outcomes vary by race and class and how they exacerbate or alleviate urban inequality, particularly regarding access to well-resourced, high-opportunity neighborhoods. I primarily leverage quantitative and spatial methods using a wide variety of data sources (e.g., survey data, census data, administrative data, and large consumer reference data) and conduct studies that are locally grounded as well as national in scope.

Peer-reviewed articles:

  • [Under review] Freeman, L., Lee, Y., Lei, Y., Xu, W. (Equal contribution). Measuring residential mobility: A historical overview of novel data and methodological approaches.

  • Lee, Yeonhwa & Reina, Vincent. (2024). Neighborhood satisfaction and gentrification: A study of Philadelphia. Urban Studies. [Link to article]

  • Reina, Vincent & Lee, Yeonhwa. (2023). COVID-19 and emergency rental assistance: Impact on rent arrears, debt, and the wellbeing of renters in Philadelphia. RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, Special Issue: The Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19. [Link to article]

  • Lee, Y., Kemp, P., Reina, V. (2022). Drivers of housing (un)affordability in the advanced economies: A review and new evidence. Housing Studies, 37(10), 1739-1752. [Link to article]

Research reports:

You can reach me at yeonhwa [at] upenn [dot] edu.

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