Meagan Ehlenz
Meagan Ehlenz, PhD, AICP, is the Associate Director of Planning and an associate professor at Arizona State University’s School of Geographical Sciences & Urban Planning. Her background spans both professional planning practice and academic research, with a focus on urban revitalization, housing, and community development. ·¡³ó±ô±ð²Ô³ú’s research examines neighborhood change, the role of anchor institutions in local housing markets, and strategies for affordable housing.
Her current projects include investigating how anchor institutions can leverage their assets to expand affordable housing, assessing shared equity housing models in Arizona, and analyzing housing market dynamics around universities—particularly their effects on students and local residents.
She is a lead investigator with the Arizona Research Center for Housing Equity & Sustainability (ARCHES) at ASU, a HUD Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) Center of Excellence. Through ARCHES, her work bridges research and practice, emphasizing community engagement, equity, and evidence-based solution-focused approaches to housing challenges in Arizona and the Southwest.
As a PennIUR Scholar, Ehlenz has published case studies and participated in roundtable discussions on anchor institutions and affordable housing strategies. Before entering academia, she gained extensive experience as a planning practitioner, working for the City of Milwaukee and as a planning consultant for local governments across Southeastern Wisconsin. She remains active in the profession as a board member of the Arizona Chapter of the American Planning Association and as a certified planner with the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).
Ehlenz holds a PhD in City and Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s in Urban Planning from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and a bachelor’s in Environmental Design from the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay.