Jesse Keenan

Jesse M. Keenan is an American professor, lawyer, and urban planner. He is the Favrot II Associate Professor of Sustainable Real Estate and Urban Planning at the School of Architecture and the Built Environment at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Keenan is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.

Career Keenan served as Research Director of the Center for Urban Real Estate as a member of the faculty of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University, as Area Head of Real Estate and the Built Environment of the faculty of the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, as a Fellow of Science, Technology and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University, as a Visiting Scholar at the Perry World House at the University of Pennsylvania, and as an Honorary Research Associate in Sustainable Finance at Oxford University.

Keenan's research on climate change and the built environment, includes the development of theories and concepts such as 'climate gentrification,' His book North: The Future of Post-Climate America (Oxford University Press) examines how climate change is shaping where and how people are living in the face of climate change.

Keenan's public scholarship and commentary on the relationships between climate change, real estate,

He served as the Executive Producer of the podcast America Adapts. Keenan contributed to exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, including Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream (2012) and Uneven Growth: Tactical Urbanism and Expanded Megacities (2014). Keenan was first person to exhibit an Excel spreadsheet at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Selected publications Books Keenan, J.M. & Weisz, C. (eds.). (2017). Blue Dunes: Climate Change By Design. New York, NY: Columbia Books on Architecture and the City / Columbia University Press. Keenan, J.M. (2018). Climate Adaptation Finance and Investment in California. London, U.K.: Routledge. Martinez-Diaz, L. & Keenan, J.M. (eds.).(2020). Managing Climate Risk in the U.S. Financial System. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Keenan, J.M. (2025). North: The Future of Post-Climate America. New York, NY.: Oxford University Press.

Journal articles Keenan, J.M. (2015). From Sustainability to Adaptation and Back: A Case Study of Goldman Sach’s Corporate Real Estate Strategy. Building Research & Information, 43(6), 407-422. Keenan, J.M. (2017). From Climate Change to National Security: An Empirical Analysis of the Obama Administration’s Federal Resilience Mandates and Measures. Natural Hazards Review, 19(1), 0401722. Keenan, J.M., Hill, T., & Gumber, A. (2018). Climate Gentrification: From Theory to Empiricism in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Environmental Research Letters, 13(5), 054001. Keenan, J.M. (2018). Types and Forms of Resilience in Local Government Planning: Who Does What? Environmental Science and Policy, 88(1), 116-123. Van den Berg, H. & Keenan, J.M. (2019). Dynamic Vulnerability in the Pursuit of Just Adaptation Processes: A Boston Case Study. Environmental Science and Policy, 94(1), 90-100. Keenan, J.M. (2019). A Climate Intelligence Arms Race in Financial Markets. Science, 365(6459), 1240-1243. Siders, A.R. & Keenan, J.M. (2020). Variables Shaping Coastal Adaptation Decisions to Armor, Nourish, and Retreat in North Carolina. Ocean & Coastal Management, 183(1), 105023. Keenan, J.M. & Bradt, J.T (2020). Underwaterwriting: From Theory to Empiricism in Regional U.S. Coastal Mortgage Markets. Climatic Change, 162(1), 2043–2067. Keenan, J.M. & Hauer, M. (2020). Resilience for Whom? Demographic Change and the Redevelopment of the Built Environment in Puerto Rico. Environmental Research Letters, 15(7), 074028. Tedesco, M., Keenan, J.M., & Hultquist, C. (2022). Measuring, Mapping, and Anticipating Climate Gentrification in Florida: Miami and Tampa Case Studies. Cities, 131(1), 103991.