Silverman's research focuses on housing and community development policies, with a particular emphasis on equity and social justice issues. 

This focus is foundational to urban planning and highlights the importance of planning for people and the application of urban planning as a tool to empower communities. Silverman argues there is a need to reassert a policy-centric and people-centric approach to planning, as opposed to one that one anchored in physical planning and design determinism.

Silverman's work challenges the notion that quality, affordable housing is readily available in struggling cities. He advocates locating low-income families in transit-accessible neighborhoods where schools, jobs, health care and cultural resources are all within reach, making it easier for those families to succeed.