Elizabeth Mueller is an Associate Professor in Community and Regional Planning. She also holds a faculty appointment in the School of Social Work. She holds master's and doctoral degrees in city and regional planning from the University of California, Berkeley. She is primarily interested in questions of social equity in cities and regions. She teaches courses on city planning history and planning theory, affordable housing policy, community development, urban politics, qualitative research methods, and research design. Elizabeth J. Mueller’s work focuses on the ways that patterns of economic and racial segregation and inequality were established and continues to be produced in growing cities. She has examined how contemporary local planning initiatives, aimed at increasing density and reducing driving, affect patterns of racial and economic segregation and exposure to environmental hazards and poor housing conditions.
As a PI or Co-PI on several research projects, she is currently studying 1) the past and ongoing role of planning in shaping existing patterns of segregation/inequity in Austin; 2) how non-institutional landlords make decisions regarding rental housing ownership and management; and 3) the historical factors shaping how zoning protects or exposes particular groups and communities to environmental hazards and other threats to property values and living conditions. Her work is currently funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
She has received awards for her teaching, research, and public service. Her work developing the Corridor Housing Preservation Tool was recognized with an APA Smart Cities Award and by the Scenario Planning Analysis Network. Her co-authored paper “Sustainability and Vulnerability: Integrating Equity into Plans for Central City Redevelopment,” won the 2012 UT Coop Best Research Paper Award. She has served on many city boards and commissions and is also on the board of Texas Housers.