Publications

February 2012 (Revised September 2013)
Case

Edward Lundberg and the Rockville Building: Energy Efficiency Finance in Commercial Real Estate

By: John D. Macomber and Frederik Nellemann

A commercial landlord analyzes options for funding and accomplishing energy efficiency retrofit. The situation is complicated by lease terms and uncertain effectiveness of the intervention. Students must grapple with obstacles including changing energy prices,... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Real Estate Industry

21 Feb 2023
Interview

How Miami Can Become a Global Climate Solutions Hub

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

Miami has been described as the epicenter of the climate change crisis in the country. But how can Miami transform its climate vulnerability into solutions? Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter released a study in 2022 that focused on Miami’s climate... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; ＂Solutions Approach; Network; Future; Change; Economic Growth; Environmental Management; City; Miami

11 May 2015
Research & Ideas

A Road Map to Fix America’s Transportation Infrastructure

sensors and other road technology are helping to improve safety for drivers. For example, Street Bump, a smartphone app created by the city of Boston, can detect potholes from the bumps cars experience on roads and send the locations of... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Transportation

May 2018
Teaching Note

Environmental Platform LEEDership at USGBC

By: Michael W. Toffel and Timothy S. Simcoe

Teaching Note for HBS No. 618-027. View Details

February 2022 (Revised March 2022)
Case

National Electric Vehicles Sweden (NEVS): Materializing a Vision

By: Shane Greenstein and Elena Corsi

In 2021, the car manufacturer National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) faced the challenge of securing funding from its investor to launch an innovative mobility solution based on fleets of shared autonomous driving (AD) cars. The system was complex as it required the... View Details

Keywords: Autonomous Vehicles; Product Design; Sustainable Cities; Transportation Networks; Auto Industry; Sweden; Europe

2006
Teaching Note

Managing the Chicago Public Schools, Teaching Note

By: Allen Grossman, Richard Elmore and Caroline King

Keywords: Education; Management; City; Chicago

2010
Working Paper

Sustainable Cities: Oxymoron or the Shape of the Future?

By: Annissa Alusi, Robert G. Eccles, Amy C. Edmondson and Tiona Zuzul

Two trends are likely to define the 21st century: threats to the sustainability of the natural environment and dramatic increases in urbanization. This paper reviews the goals, business models, and partnerships involved in eight early "ecocity" projects to begin to... View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Investment; City; Infrastructure; Business and Government Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Urban Development; Information Technology; Green Technology Industry; Real Estate Industry

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01 Mar 2019
News

Tools and Training for a “Wicked Problem”

When Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller (MBA 2005) outlined his citywide plan to address homelessness in September 2018, his approach included some time-tested best practices from cities with more experience grappling with the issue. Increasing... View Details

Keywords: homelessness

August 2008 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Polanco: A Fashionable Opportunity

By: Arthur I Segel and Ben Creo

Roberto Charvel is a young MBA graduate making his first personal real estate investment in his native Mexico City. Charvel is planning to purchase and renovate a nine-unit apartment building. Is the market good? Should he sell or lease the units? How should he handle... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Housing; Leasing; Property; Real Estate Industry; Mexico City

November 1997 (Revised December 1999)
Case

Cinemex

By: James L. Heskett

The founders of Cinemex, the largest capitalized venture start-up in Mexican history, are debating several issues concerning the operations of their new chain of motion picture theatres in Mexico City. The first concerns whether some seats should be left unsold to... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Service Operations; Debates; Venture Capital; Customer Satisfaction; Advertising; Investment; Theater Entertainment; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Mexico City

2013
Chapter

Luxembourg: A Sustainable Society Starts Here

By: Robert G. Eccles and George Serafeim

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Integrated Corporate Reporting; City; Luxembourg

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February 27, 1997
Article

The Inner City's Competitive Advantage

By: M. E. Porter and Tapan Munroe

Keywords: City; Competition

Find at Harvard

Article

Healthy Buildings in 2070

By: John D. Macomber and Joseph G. Allen

Fifty years seems a very long time in the future for most industries. Not so in buildings and real estate; built structures routinely last decades if not hundreds of years, as long as they are economically competitive. Any discussion of the 50-year future has to... View Details

Keywords: Health ＆ Wellness; Real Estate; Architectural Innovation; Public Health; Health; Buildings and Facilities; Well-being

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April 2020 (Revised May 2025)
Case

Shorefast: A Strange and Familiar Way to Reimagine Capitalism

By: Brian Trelstad, Wendy Smith and Natalie Slawinski

In 2006, Zita Cobb and two of her brothers, Alan Cobb and Tony Cobb, native Newfoundlanders, launched Shorefast to help grow another leg of Fogo Island’s economy. Like so many rural communities, Fogo Island’s fate was tied directly to one primary resource—in this case... View Details

Keywords: Place Making; Non-profit; Hotel; Economic Development; Tourism; Social Entrepreneurship; Nonprofit Organizations; Development Economics; Economic Systems; Tourism Industry; Canada

07 May 2025
News

Scaling New Heights

Brianna Brown, chief product officer at City Fresh Foods in Boston. (Photo/video credit: Susan Young) City Fresh Foods has long served nutritious meals to students, seniors, and daycare centers in Greater Boston’s under-resourced communities. But when the company saw... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Gillespie

October 2011 (Revised August 2012)
Case

INNOVA-MEX's Bid for ENKONTROL

By: Ramana Nanda, William R. Kerr and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In their second year, two Mexican HBS MBAs joined forces to start a search fund based in Mexico City. They had raised money to acquire an existing private company in Mexico with an initial enterprise value between $5 million and $15 million. Just seven months after... View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Investment Funds; Corporate Finance; Mexico City