About
David Madden is an urban sociologist and housing researcher. He is Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of the Cities Programme at the London School of Economics. His teaching and research interests include urban studies, housing studies, social theory and political sociology. His work seeks to understand how urban and residential space is shaped by political-economic processes and how cities and housing systems might become resources for political-economic change.
David's current writing project explores the changing political and economic role of housing tenure in contemporary society. He is co-author of the book In Defense of Housing (2016; second edition 2024). He serves on the editorial board of the journal CITY: Analysis of urban change, theory, action.
Key expertise: Urban Studies, Political Sociology, Social Theory
Research
David's research interests include housing, public space, urban restructuring, and critical urban theory. He has conducted qualitative, ethnographic and archival research in New York City and London. He is co-author, with Peter Marcuse, of In Defense of Housing: The politics of crisis (Verso, 2016). His writing has appeared in leading urban sociology journals as well as The Guardian, the Washington Post, and Jacobin.
David is part of the Urban Sociology research cluster.
Publications
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Teaching
David Madden co-directs the MSc City Design and Social Science Programme. He convenes an undergraduate module on Urban Society, a postgraduate modules on Urban Social Theory and the City Design: Research Studio.
Engagement and impact
Reviews and Commentary
2025. "Thatcher’s right to buy policy is celebrated but here’s the cost: losses to us all of £194bn and a fractured society" The Guardian, 6 August.
2022. With Simon Güntner, Andrej Holm, Margit Mayer and Hilary Silver. “Soziale Bewegungen, die Wohnungsfrage und kritische Theorie ein Gespräch in Erinnerung an Peter Marcuse.” Forschungsjournal Soziale Bewegungen 36 (1): 112-128.
2021. With Alexander Vasudevan. “Berlin’s rent cap, though defeated in court, shows how to cool overheated markets.” The Guardian, 23 April.
2021. “Red London in Tory Britain.” Jacobin, 26 January.
2020. “Housing and the Crisis of Social Reproduction.” e-flux, 25 June.
2020. “Our cities only serve the wealthy. Coronavirus could change that.” The Guardian, 22 June.
2020. “‘The Collective Work of Art We Call the City.’” Jacobin, 2 April.
2020. With Glyn Robbins. “The Limits of Liberal Urbanism.” Jacobin, 28 March.
2019. “Why has everyone shelved Britain’s broken housing system this election?” The Guardian, 10 December.
2019. “Why we should go back to the Addison Act to build cities fit for the future.” The Big Issue, 1 August.
2019. “The fight for fair housing is finally shifting power from landlords to residents ” The Guardian, 3 July.
2019. “City Talk.” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research Spotlight On Cities and Language.
2016. “A Homegrown Housing Crisis.” The Guardian, 5 October.
2016. David Madden and Peter Marcuse. “No Rent for Rats.” Jacobin, 22 November.
2016. David Madden and Peter Marcuse. “The Permanent Crisis of Housing.” Jacobin, 2 October. Bosnian-Croation-Serbian translation, 2016: “Stalna kriza stanovanja,” Mašina, 14 October.
2016. “Designing Against the Public.” Topos: The international review of landscape architecture and urban design 96: 52-59.
2015. “An Idea of Progress.” Commissioned text for Iván Argote: An Idea of Progress. Exhibition at Space Studios, London.
2015. “Five myths about public housing.” Washington Post, 13 September 2015.
2015. “There Is a Politics of Urban Knowledge Because Urban Knowledge Is Political: A rejoinder to ‘Debating urban studies in 23 steps.’” CITY: Analysis of urban trends, culture, theory, policy action 19 (2-3): 297-302.
2015. “Book Review: Hell’s Kitchen and the Battle for Urban Space.” American Journal of Sociology 120 (2): 604-606.
2015. “Book Review: Cities Full of Symbols.” Contemporary Sociology 44 (1): 100-101.
2014. “Book Review: Offshoring.” Theory, Culture & Society web reviews, 16 September.
2013. “Book Review: Remaking London.” LSE Review of Books, 23 November.
2013. “Gentrification doesn’t trickle down to help everyone.” The Guardian, 10 October.
2013. “Book Review: Globalization, Modernity and the City.” Economic Geography 89 (3): 311-312.
2012. “Book Review: The Transatlantic Collapse of Urban Renewal.” LSE Review of Books.
2012. “Poor Man’s Penthouse” (review essay on the film The Pruitt-Igoe Myth). CITY: Analysis of urban trends, culture, theory, policy, action 16 (3): 377-381.
2012. With co-author Antonis Vradis. “From Athens to Occupy and Back: Introduction to cities in upheaval.” CITY: Analysis of urban trends, culture, theory, policy, action 16 (1-2): 235-236.
2010. “Urban ANTs: A review essay.” Qualitative Sociology 33 (4): 583-590.