Dr. Orna Rosenfeld, B.Arch. (Hons), M.A., Ph.D., is an award-winning housing expert, strategist, and author with over 25 years of experience shaping housing, inclusion, and urban development in 56 countries. She is the founder and CEO of Orna Rosenfeld & Associates, a Paris-based advisory and research practice helping governments, cities, and international organisations design and deliver inclusive, sustainable, and resilient housing systems.

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Her work spans the world’s leading institutions. She has advised the European Commission, European Investment Bank, Council of Europe Development Bank, World Bank, and the United Nations, as well as more than 50 national and 30 local governments across Europe, the Western Balkans, Caucasus, Central Asia, North America, and beyond. Renowned for bridging policy ambition with practical delivery, she brings deep expertise in affordable housing, urban regeneration, governance, and climate neutrality.

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Dr Rosenfeld is the author of over 20 strategic and scientific publications on housing and urban policy, commissioned and published by the United Nations and European Commission, among others. Her policy recommendations have been formally endorsed at the highest levels, including by EU Director Generals on Urban Matters, the UNECE Committee on Housing and Land Management, and 56 housing ministers across UNECE member states. Her work has been translated into all 27 EU languages, as well as Russian and Korean.

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Over the past two decades, she has evaluated more than 200 housing projects across 20 countries, directly contributing to the design and delivery of over 6,000 homes and 100 hectares of development land. She has also advised leaders in 30+ cities, ensuring urban policies and housing strategies are both ambitious and grounded in local realities.

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Her expertise has shaped emblematic EU and UN initiatives, including the New European Bauhaus, Just Transition, Urban Agenda for the EU, the UN New Urban Agenda, and Habitat III. She has served on numerous international expert groups and advisory boards with organisations such as UN-Habitat, OECD, ESPON, the International Union of Architects, ELTI, and CNBC. Her insights have been featured in European and international media, including Der Standard, Die Presse, ORF, El País, Postimees, Ö1, and CNBC.

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Dr Rosenfeld’s achievements have been recognised worldwide. In 2014, she was named a World Cities Summit Young Leader in Singapore, and in 2021, she received the British Council Global Alumni Award for Social Impact (Europe and Global). She has delivered more than 120 keynote speeches and moderated high-level panels at events hosted by the United Nations, European Parliament, Capitol Hill, ISOCARP, MIPIM, Smart City Expo World Congress, and the World Cities Summit—often engaging directly with ministers, EU Commissioners, architects, and city leaders.

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She earned her PhD in Urban Regeneration and Development from the University of Westminster, her M.A. in Planning Research and Theory from the University of Sheffield, and a magna cum laude B.Arch. from the Technion – IIT. Alongside her practice, she taught for over fifteen years at Sciences Po Paris and the University of Westminster, integrating academic insight with real-world application.

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As founder and CEO of Orna Rosenfeld & Associates, she is dedicated to bridging foresight, policy, and practice to help governments and cities design inclusive, sustainable housing and urban systems. Drawing on 25+ years of global experience, Urban Futures Ecosystem - an interconnected suite of services that translates vision into action. OR & Associates is a nimble, globally connected practice that translates bold visions into practical, lasting impact—empowering leaders to navigate housing and urban complexities with confidence.

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As Dr. Rosenfeld often says: “Housing is not only about bricks and mortar; it is about building futures where people and places thrive together.”