David Kaufmann

David Kaufmann is Professor of Spatial Development and Urban Policy at ETH Zürich. His research examines the intersections of public policy, urban studies, planning and migration studies.

David Kaufmann studied political science at the University of Zürich and the University of Lund. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Bern in December 2016. He was guest researcher at Leiden University, Virginia Tech, University of Ottawa, and University of Toronto.

David Kaufmann is the co-editor of the book Global Urban Policy (2026, University of Michigan Press), the author of Varieties of Capital Cities (2018, Edward Elgar), and the co-author of the book The Political Economy of Capital Cities (2018, Routledge). His work has been published in leading international journals such as PNAS, Nature Sustainability, Urban Studies, Planning Theory, Journal of the American Planning Association, British Journal of Political Science, and Governance.