Publications

January 2008
Article

Entrepreneurship and Urban Success: Toward a Policy Consensus

By: Zoltan J. Acs, Edward L. Glaeser, Robert E. Litan, Lee Fleming, Stephan J. Goetz, William R. Kerr, Steven Klepper, Stuart S. Rosenthal, Olav Sorenson and William C. Strange

Like all politics, all entrepreneurship is local. Individuals launch firms and, if successful, expand their enterprises to other locations. But new firms must start somewhere, even if their businesses are conducted largely or exclusively on the Internet. Likewise,... View Details

Keywords: Business Headquarters; Business Startups; Development Economics; Economy; Entrepreneurship; Policy; Taxation; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Business Processes; Expansion; Internet

Read Now

24 Apr 2014
News

Breaking the cycle of poverty in urban areas

Silbert. “It seems counterintuitive, but it’s possible to be undernourished and overweight.” She adds: “If we all work together and commit resources, we can break the cycle of intergenerational poverty in urban America.” During her... View Details

30 Apr 2024
Blog Post

IFC India: Urban Adaptation in a Changing World

disasters all present significant risks for India’s sustained economic growth and the wellbeing of its population. As a coastal city with extensive area below sea level and already high ambient temperatures, Mumbai faces acute View Details

Awards

Western Economic Association International 2018 Best Article Award

By: Scott Duke Kominers

Winner of the 2018 Western Economic Association International Best Economic Inquiry Article Award for “Big Data and Big Cities: The Promises and Limitations of Improved Measures of Urban Life” with Edward L. Glaeser, Michael Luca, and Nikhil Naik (January 2018). View Details

July 2016
Supplement

Mahindra Tool: Project Economics

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Christopher Payton

The case describes Mahindra Lifespace Developers’ (MLDL), a unit of Indian conglomerate Mahindra and Mahindra, foray into the affordable housing segment. MLDL sees a huge opportunity in selling apartments to the burgeoning population of urban workers, which is badly... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Business Startups; Development Economics; Developing Countries and Economies; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Housing; Emerging Markets; Business and Government Relations; Human Needs; Social Issues; Urban Development; Real Estate Industry; India

01 Apr 2002
News

Urban Evolution - HBS Research on the Inner City

through collaboration. While business is key to the successful revitalization of urban areas, Austin notes that other alliances are also important. He sees a future in which leaders from all sectors build relationships that will improve... View Details

Keywords: Paul Grogan; Peter Tufano; David Crockett; Diana Barrett; Real Estate

March 2004 (Revised April 2006)
Case

St. Louis: Inner-City Economic Development

By: Michael E. Porter, Anne S. Habiby and Joanne Lasala

Describes the history and challenges of the economically distressed inner city areas of St. Louis, a major U.S. metropolitan area. Profiles regional and inner city economics and describes a new effort by community leaders to develop and implement a strategy to... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Leading Change; Urban Development; Problems and Challenges; Public Administration Industry; Saint Louis

January 2019
Case

King Abdullah Economic City: Population Drivers and Cash Flow

CEO of high profile new economic city in Saudi Arabia must decide how to allocate limited investment funds across projects under duress. Issues include understanding core economic drivers; planning infrastructure investment and return; attracting multinationals; and... View Details

Keywords: Urban Development; Infrastructure; Project Finance; Resource Allocation; Decision Making; City; Real Estate Industry; Saudi Arabia

2019
Chapter

Local States of Play: Land and Urban Politics in Reform-Era China

By: Meg Rithmire

Book Abstract: Although comparative politics is conventionally seen as the study of politics across countries, the field has a longstanding and increasingly prominent tradition in national contexts; focusing on subnational units, institutions, actors and processes.... View Details

Read Now

2023
Working Paper

Spatial Mobility, Economic Opportunity, and Crime

By: Gaurav Khanna, Carlos Medina, Anant Nyshadham, Daniel Ramos-Menchelli, Jorge Tamayo and Audrey Tiew

Neighborhoods are strong determinants of both economic opportunity and criminal activity. Does improving connectedness between segregated and unequal parts of a city predominantly import opportunity or export crime? We use a spatial general equilibrium framework to... View Details

Keywords: Urban Development; Transportation Networks; Crime and Corruption; Transportation Industry; Medellín; Colombia; South America

Read Now

1966
Thesis

Economic Functions of Central Cities

By: Richard L. Nolan

Keywords: Economics; Urban Scope

February 2013 (Revised February 2013)
Case

King Abdullah Economic City in 2009: Population Drivers and Cash Flow

CEO of high profile new economic city in Saudi Arabia must decide how to allocate limited investment funds across projects under duress. Issues include understanding core economic drivers, planning infrastructure investment and return, attracting multinationals, energy... View Details

Keywords: Urban Development; Infrastructure; Real Estate Industry; Saudi Arabia

Teaching Interest

Africa: Building Cities: Immersive Field Course

Keywords: Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development; Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development; Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development; Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development

This second year elective takes students into the field to assess and report on the opprtunities in the next decade for the private finance and delivery of public infrastructure in the Global South. In January of 2016 and 2017 the cities studied were Addis Ababa,... View Details

Keywords: Cities; Urbanization; Economic Development; Infrastructure; Sustainability; Africa; Latin America; Peru; Argentina; Ethiopia; Tanzania

17 Jan 2017
Research & Ideas

Can China Maintain Its Economic Power?

a nation still shadowed by Mao Zedong’s controversial legacy institute market-based reforms that have made the country the world’s second-largest economic power. He has helped document that journey as the author of scores of cases,... View Details

Keywords: by Deborah Blagg

ULI Report Provides Wildfire, Energy, and Economic Resilience Strategies to Sonoma County

Sonoma County, Calif., can enhance its ability to withstand and recover from wildfires by re-envisioning its land use, energy, and housing policies through a cooperative... View Details

01 Jun 2009
News

Porter Helps Jerusalem Mayor with Economic Development

Nir Barkat, a software entrepreneur elected mayor of Jerusalem last November, visited HBS in late March to take part in a roundtable discussion on the economic development of his city, Israel’s poorest. HBS professor Michael Porter, a... View Details

Teaching

Overview