Urban Systems - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Feb 1997
News

Mexico on the Brink: A Conversation with Juan Enriquez-Cabot (MBA '86)

From 1988 to 1993, Juan Enriquez-Cabot was CEO of SERVIMET, a for-profit urban development entity of the Mexico City government which grew 4,000 percent during his tenure and became the city's largest revenue source after taxes. In 1993,... View Details

24 Feb 2016
News

Did William Alden Invent the Car of the Future in the 1960s?

Alden envisioned a hybrid system he called the StaRRcar—a “car-like train” with small pods that a passenger could call like a taxi and would ride on rails directly to the desired destination. It was an idea ahead of its time, Adi... View Details

01 Feb 2000
News

Bart Harvey: Opportunities for Others

explains Harvey. "He believed in both the free-enterprise system and the use of wealth to provide opportunity for others. When I joined the Enterprise Foundation in 1984, Jim told me, 'Now you're an investment banker for the poor, not the... View Details

01 Jun 2013
News

Revitalizing America

environmentally sound reconstruction of decaying neighborhoods by training at-risk urban youth in construction and putting them in line for good jobs. City Year, an education-focused nonprofit on whose national board I serve, mobilizes... View Details

Keywords: Health, Social Assistance

20 Oct 2016
News

Smart Moves

percent of the traffic in most urban areas is caused by people just driving around trying to find parking,” says Mistele, the company’s president and CEO. All that congestion comes at a high price. Mistele says the Texas Transportation... View Details

Keywords: Robert S. Benchley; Support Activities for Transportation; Transportation

01 Mar 2009
News

Having a Ball

founder and CEO of a Virginia technology company, snapped it up through his Stafford Foundation. “We’ve gotten away from the core values that made America great,” Stafford told the Washington Post (December 4, 2008). “We just need to get back to caring about each... View Details

Keywords: Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support; Government; Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations; Personal Services

01 Jun 2006
News

HBS Students Help Rebuild New Orleans

investigate some kind of central challenge to the broader society,” Thomas says. “How about a trek to the Sudan, or a trek to look at public education in places where school systems face major challenges?” D’Avella adds that the work in... View Details

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

21 Oct 2013
News

Moving the Needle

hospital stays and doctors' visits showed her the health care system up close. "I realized that I really wanted to make a difference," she recalls. At Harvard, this self-described "contrarian" recalls having to push her idea of promoting... View Details

Keywords: Jill Radsken; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Finance

01 Dec 2009
News

Up on the Green Roof

estimated 75 percent of annual rainfall, says Charlie Sinkler, whose Somerville, Massachusetts, firm, Apex Green Roofs, installed all the components of the system. Collectively, green roofs in urban settings can help reduce storm-water... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Construction of Buildings; Construction

01 Jun 2013
News

Education Innovation

populated, in part, by HBS alumni. Doug Lemov (MBA 2004) is pushing to "reteach" teachers, equipping practitioners with real-world skills to improve learning ("5 Bright Ideas"). Scott Given (MBA 2010) and his fellow charter school reformers are forcing a... View Details

Keywords: Elementary and Secondary Schools; Educational Services

01 Dec 1997
News

Short Takes

ample opportunity for miscommunication," explains Gittell. In interviewing health-care providers and administrators from nine major urban hospitals about their organizational practices, Gittell and Weiss found that hospitals are actively... View Details

Keywords: Judith Ross

22 Apr 2021
News

Leading for a Better World in Boston; Virtual Event Showcases Japan Fellowship

which connects farmers to food banks to reduce food waste and feed needy communities; Anne Hayes, executive director of The Food Project, which deploys youth and young adults from diverse backgrounds to work on farms and in urban gardens... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

04 Jan 2016
News

Taking Time Out for a Challenge

After living in Sierra Leone from 2006 to 2010, where she worked as a founding board member of the Welbodi Partnership, which supports the country’s health system in delivering essential services to women and children, HBS doctoral... View Details

Keywords: ebola; Ambulatory Health Care Services; Health, Social Assistance

01 Dec 2015
News

Leading Boston and Beyond

management tools for the city. He stayed on as an advisor to Menino, rebuilding the city’s 24-hour hotline and exploring how mobile apps could be utilized to make reporting issues more convenient for residents. In 2010, Osgood and Nigel Jacob co-founded the Mayor’s... View Details

Keywords: Jen Myers; Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support; Government

15 Mar 2010
News

Solving the Water Challenge

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

01 Jun 2014
News

Roads to Recovery

radar technology, which forces planes to fly 50 nautical miles apart and only on predetermined routes. Step Forward: Satellite Tracking Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson, citing air traffic control systems as "one of our biggest... View Details

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

05 Dec 2016
News

The Dragon’s Tale

with the country’s recent economic slowdown, China has more billionaires than the United States. Behind that fairly startling statistic are troubling related issues such as corruption among China’s elite and very wide variance in income, standard of living, and... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg

01 Mar 2007
News

The Plight of the Global Poor

its leavings. Every night on the outskirts of Manila, thousands of people lie down to sleep amid acres of rotting food and industrial detritus in a vast urban dumping ground called Payatas. At dawn, they rise and swarm across a... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; bottom of the pyramid (BOP); Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Social Assistance; Health, Social Assistance

01 Mar 2015
News

Ask the Expert: Inside the Fed

The Fed’s structure The Federal Reserve System is overseen by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, an independent agency with seven members who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The View Details

Keywords: Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support; Government; Monetary Authorities-Central Bank; Finance

01 Mar 2013
News

Sizing Up Social Impact

Acumen's potential new projects in Kenya and associated decision-making factors, including political risk. The (B) case considers critical measurement problems for the organization at large. What should its performance tracking system... View Details

Publications