Iván Tosics is one of the principals of Metropolitan Research Institute (MRI), Budapest. He is a mathematician and sociologist (PhD) with a long experience in urban sociology, strategic development, housing policy and EU regional policy issues. He is vice chair of the European Network of Housing Research (ENHR) and executive committee member of the European Urban Research Association (EURA). He is the Policy Editor of the journal ‘Urban Research and Practice’, member of the Editorial Advisory Board for the ‘Journal of Housing and the Built Environment’ and for ‘Housing Studies’. He represents the Municipality of Budapest in the Economic Development Forum of EUROCITIES, as chair of the EDF for 2007 and 2008. He participated in the preparation of the Rehabilitation Strategy of Budapest, and he was the leader of a consortium working on the medium and long term Urban Development Strategy of Budapest.