Iris Levin

Dr Iris Levin is an architect, urban planner and researcher. She has a passion for working with diverse communities and understanding the effects of migration on the built environment. She is interested in housing, social planning, migration and social diversity in cities.

Iris is Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Urban Transitions who gained her PhD from the University of Melbourne in 2010 and joined Swinburne University in 2017 after working in the community sector (The Brotherhood of St Laurence) and Flinders University. Iris has a Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning and a B.Arch. in Architecture, gained from the Technion, Israel. Iris is the leader of the Migration and Urban Diversity (MAUD) stream at the Centre for Urban Transitions and was a recently appointed Theme Leader of Urban Diversity & Migration Theme under the program Future Urban Decision-Making within the Smart Cities Research Institute, Swinburne University.

Iris’s research focuses on issues around housing, the built environment, migration, diversity, disadvantaged communities and social mix in the city. She often uses qualitative and visual methodologies and analyses and has experience in longitudinal research. In 2016 Iris published her book Migration, Settlement, and the Concept of House and Home (Routledge), focusing on migrant settlement practices in their homes in Australia and Israel, and since then has worked on research projects dealing with public housing, urban renewal projects and social mix, urban belonging and public urban space, and neighbour relations in high-density housing arrangements.

Iris has published extensively for academic and industry audiences and has presented her work in different forums and conferences. She has taught various undergraduate and postgraduate subjects in planning, social diversity and the built environment. Iris often contributes to community engagement panels and forums supporting local councils in engaging residents.