Karen Levy is an architect and urban planner, who specialises in developing cities. After having worked on designing, co-ordinating and managing urban projects in France for over twelve years, Karen has spent the last eight years broadening her skillset by focusing on urban changes in the major cities of the global South. A graduate of the University of Paris Nanterre, where she defended her thesis in 2018, she is well acquainted with managing complex projects and has developed expertise in analysing urban dynamics in emerging cities. Due to the imperatives of sustainable development and the fight against climate change, new requirements are being introduced into the production of the city. Karen’s highly developed sense of architectural and environmental awareness means she is able to design sustainable projects, which are inclusive and in line with users’ expectations (Eco-neighbourhoods of Passerelles in Annecy, Effinergie+ label, Eco-neighbourhoods of Bonne in Grenoble).
Karen has also worked on successfully forging links between different audiences (from urban stakeholders to international donors) and different disciplines. In 2019, as part of her involvement in managing and structuring field actions for three urban projects in Haiti, for example, she coordinated operational policies with local communities and ensured the capacity-building of institutions involved in urban management. More recently, Karen has been more specifically examining how stakeholders involved in real estate production are taking action in cities of the global South. Her research combines the analysis of governance systems and urban development in peripheral areas. She is working with the Prodig Laboratory on the « New Housing for Middle Classes in the Metropolitan Periphery: What integration into the city? Comparison between Delhi, Mexico City and Paris » research programme. Karen is the author of a number of articles on the specific features of development programmes for the middle classes in Johannesburg and Delhi, and has co-organised seminars, as well as various academic events.
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