Her research and writing has focused on the distributive effects of urban development strategies and megaprojects, the role of democracy and community control in local public institutions, and establishing a moral theory of "the just city.
[3] Noting that property-focused growth has weakened urban welfare programs and broad neighborhood revitalization strategies, she has proposed reforms to public-private partnership structures that discourage overbuilding and permit broader community benefits.
[6][10] These principles aim to harmonize the contractarian "theory of justice" proposed by John Rawls with its post-liberal criticisms, particularly those of Iris Marion Young, who argues that the recognition of social group differences cannot be subordinated to individual distributive fairness.
[6][12] Fainstein has upheld Amsterdam's social housing program as a model of the "just city" paradigm because it supports a mix of household types, permits ethnic concentration but not enclavism, and safeguards a basic living standard.
Peter Marcuse and Oren Yiftachel have expanded on Fainstein's justice concept, calling for greater focus on property relations and recognition of planning paradigms outside the U.S. and Europe.