Benjamin F. Teresa

Benjamin F. Teresa is an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond, Virginia, where he studies the changing relationship between finance and cities. His research examines how the increasing role of financial institutions, actors, and logic—sometimes referred to as the “financialization” of the economy—affects urban development and governance and how communities and planners exercise control over the institutions that shape how cities change. Teresa’s research engages across multiple topics including real-estate development, housing, tax incentives, artistic and cultural production, and urban education. His current research focuses on the re‑emergence of land contracts and the role of institutional investors in reproducing racial segregation in real-estate markets. He is the co‑founder and co‑director of the RVA Eviction Lab, which is focused on data collection and research for addressing housing instability.