Elliott Sclar is a professor of urban planning. An economist and urban planner, he is the director of the Center for Sustainable Urban Development (CSUD) at Columbia University's Earth Institute, one of six global centers of excellence supported by the Volvo Foundations of Gothenburg, Sweden. Professor Sclar's research interests include urban economic development, transportation, and public service economics.

Sclar was a co-coordinator of the Taskforce on Improving the Lives of Slum Dwellers, one of ten task forces set up by the UN Millennium Project to aid in the implementation of the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals. He was a lead author on the Taskforce's book length report (2005): A Home in the City, which is available on the UN Millennium Project website and from Earthscan.