Updates from Prentiss Dantzler and the Housing Justice Lab

Dr. Prentiss Dantzler is a professor, urbanist, CGSP affiliate faculty member, and director of the Housing Justice Lab. He uses these multiple roles to advance the cause of housing justice inside and outside of academia.

Here are a few highlights from Dr. Dantzler’s recent work.

Report on racial discrimination in rental housing

In February, Dr. Dantzler’s Housing Justice Lab released “Racial Discrimination in Toronto’s Rental Market?” The report’s authors (Jason Hackworth, Natali Keckesova, and Paul Boniface Akaabre) write about a study in which they created two fake accounts on a popular rental advertisement app/website. The researchers used AI to generate profile images for each account — one of a young white man and the other of a young black man –and then used these profiles to contact potential landlords who had posted rental ads.

Key findings from the report include:

1) Residential choice in Toronto that is free from ethno-racial prejudice is a myth.

2) Similar to U.S. studies, landlords often see Black tenants as poor investments, especially in high-value areas.

3) First-contact audits reveal only part of the discrimination problem, underestimating the full extent of bias in housing searches.

4) Researchers need to investigate housing discrimination further, and policymakers must enforce stronger protections for Black renters.

Research talks

On May 8, the Housing Justice Lab will host Dr. Laura Wolf-Powers for a Research Talk entitled “Land Value Capture and the Housing Crisis.” Dr. Wolf-Powers is School of Cities Visiting Professor from City University of New York – Hunter College. Registration to attend this talk is now open.

And on March 12, the Housing Justice Lab hosted Dr. Davon Morris of University of Michigan for his Research Talk, “Racial Segregation and Alternative Financial Services in the US.”

Lectures, panels, keynotes, and honours

On April 30, Dr. Dantzler will be delivering the keynote address at the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association’s National Congress on Housing and Homelessness.

Dr. Dantzler has been speaking about anti-displacement in a variety of contexts recently. Earlier this month, Dr. Dantzler served on a panel at the Mount Dennis People’s Summit: Anti-Displacement Strategies for a Growing Community. In March, he chaired a panel on the theme at the Association of American Geographer’s Annual Meeting Session in Detroit. And he delivered guest lectures on racialized displacement at University of Guelph, Northern Illinois University, and the University of British Columbia.

At the Urban Affairs Association’s recent International Conference on Urban Affairs, Dr. Dantzler served as discussant on “Race, Ethnicity, and Urban Planning” panel, and was also inducted into UAA’s Service Honour Roll.