Matthew French

Dr. Matthew French is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture at Monash University, specializing in sustainable urban development with a focus on affordable housing, slum upgrading, and participatory design in developing countries. His work bridges environmental and socio-cultural dimensions, emphasizing community engagement in climate-resilient urban planning.

Matthew holds a Bachelor of Architecture (BArch) and Master of Architecture (MArch) from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, and a PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK. His professional background combines academic research with practical development projects in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific.

Research Interests: His research explores innovative approaches to revitalizing informal settlements through methodologies such as citizen science flood monitoring, planetary health models for sanitation, and water-sensitive urban design. He leads the Informal Cities Lab and contributes to the Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments (RISE) initiative, which integrates health, environmental, and socio-economic interventions.

Recent Work: Recent articles focus on community-centered adaptation strategies in the Pacific, cross-sectoral pathogen surveillance frameworks, and decolonizing research methodologies in North-South collaborations. His work emphasizes equitable knowledge production and institutional leadership in global development challenges.

Labs & Projects: He directs the Informal Cities Lab and co-leads the RISE program, which employs cluster randomized controlled trials to evaluate urban revitalization strategies in Makassar, Indonesia.