Planning Professor Among Global Scholars to Present at Naval Postgraduate School

Due to his research on voluntary Muslim residential segregation in Europe and its impact on political radicalism, DAAP's David Varady was recently among a handful of global scholars to present work at a prestigious global conference.

University of Cincinnati housing David Varady, professor of planning in UC's top-ranked College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, was recently asked to present a portion of his research at the United States Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. He and other global scholars presented research to members of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
David Varady
DAAP's David Varady

Varady's research typically touches on complicated contemporary issues - real estate and housing, race and religion, aging and economics. As such, he was invited as an outside expert to present at a symposium titled "Homeland Security and Muslim Communities" at the Naval Postgraduate School.

The symposium drew Muslim community activists from throughout the U.S. and Europe, academicians from around the world and homeland security officials in order to share information and to start a dialogue among the experts.

Varady was invited to participate due to housing research he published in 2008 titled "Muslim Residential Clustering and Political Radicalism." The research looked at voluntary residential segregation of Muslim communities in Europe, the consequences of this clustering and potential policy responses.

In all, about 100 elite researchers participated in the symposium. Recalled Varady, "There were housing researchers from Europe but also researchers from all over the world in the fields of Islamic studies and community relations. One question we all looked at was coexistence and cooperation between groups in communities. How do we get beyond shouting matches between groups living in close proximity, be they Muslim, Jewish or Christian?"

One way is to focus on local issues important to all groups, such as quality of education and housing as well as property taxes. Groups can work together on such issues, while avoiding discussion of religion.

Explained Varady, "It can be summed up in the phrase - think locally, act locally. Among groups, it's unlikely anyone is going to change anyone else's mind on such hot-button political/religious issues, like those related to attitudes about Israel. So, that's not even a topic for discussion as groups come together to work locally."

The "Homeland Security and Muslim Communities" conference has continued online, with the researchers and community activists seeking to build trust via the sharing of information.

In the near future, Varady will travel to the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. In April 2010, he will work with researchers there on projects related to ethnicity and housing. While there, he will also continue work on an ongoing project examining public housing in the Netherlands vs. the U.S.

His goal, he said, is to "keep the ordinary person, the ordinary resident in mind when doing my research. I want to assist communities that can benefit from the dynamism of an integrated population. Increasing the number of stably integrated neighborhoods can benefit cities and entire regions by fostering better neighborhoods and reducing racial tensions, crime and substandard housing."

In all, Varady's housing research over the past four decades has looked at

  • Appalachian migration and settlement patterns in the Cincinnati region.
  • Cincinnati neighborhoods most likely to attract recipients of Section 8 Housing vouchers.
  • Comparing/contrasting public housing in the United States vs. Europe.
  • Converting housing renters into housing owners.
  • Jewish migration and settlement patterns in the Cincinnati region.
  • The future of public housing and housing authorities.
  • The link between the economy/wages and the age of first-time home buyers.
  • Muslim residential segregation and its impact on political radicalism.
  • National settlement patterns for recipients of Section 8 Housing vouchers.
  • Perception vs. reality regarding public housing in terms of safety and other issues.
  • Successfully designed housing for the elderly.
  • Tax abatements as a means to attract and hold middle-class families with children in cities.