Dr. John Joe Schlichtman is an urban sociologist who is motivated by the potential of equitable, just, and productive community development. A primary goal in his scholarship is to tether our understanding of seemingly huge processes like globalization and gentrification to the street level. His research examines how stakeholders resist or exploit transformation, the decisions residents make in navigating it, its influence on the urban landscape, and the various paths leaders chart forward in its midst. This interplay relates to issues as diverse as community development, housing, economic change, public health, policing practices, and education policy. His
books SHOWROOM CITY (2022) and the co-authored (with Jason Patch and Marc Lamont Hill) GENTRIFIER (2017) are both examples of this nuanced and accessible approach. Professor Schlichtman’s research and perspectives have been discussed in such media outlets as Next City, Bloomberg CityLab, The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, National Public Radio, The Independent (UK), and Architectural Digest. He serves as a board member of the Research Committee 21 (RC21) for Urban and Regional Development. He has been a recipient of the PSA Praxis Award (2012) and was also named a Next City Vanguard (2016).
Research Interests
- Gentrification
- Globalization
- Community Development
- Housing Policy
- Small Cities
Selected Publications:
Schlichtman, J. 2022. “A Look Backstage in the Furniture Capital of the World."
Next City.
Schlichtman, J. 2022. Showroom City: Real Estate and Resistance in the Furniture Capital of the World. Minnesota.
Schlichtman, J. 2022. “Big City Problems: Private Equity Investment, Transnational Users, and Local Mobilization in the Small City."
City & Community, 19:1.
Schlichtman, J., Patch, J., and Hill, M.L. 2017.
GENTRIFIER. University of Toronto Press.
Schlichtman, J. 2017. "Towards a Definition of the Urban from the Perspective of Sociology.” Iossifova, D., Gasparatos, A., and Doll, C., eds.
Defining the Urban: Interdisciplinary and Professional Perspectives. Routledge.
Steve, S., Tung, L., Schlichtman, J., and Peek, M. 2016. “Social Disorder in Adults with Type II Diabetes: Building on Race, Place, and Poverty.” Current Diabetes Reports, 16:72.
Schlichtman, J. and Patch, J. 2014. “Gentrifier? Who, Me? Interrogating the Gentrifier in the Mirror." International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 38:4.
Schlichtman, J. 2014. “Poor Doors Are About as Egalitarian as the U.S. Gets.” August 1. NextCity.