Why do Cities look the way they do?   How subdivisions, retail and office development have shaped urban growth.

Richard Peiser discusses how cities evolve - how planning, development, history, infrastructure, segregation, federal and local policy interact to create urban form. He will focus on residential and commercial development post 1950 - with examples from Boston, London, Shanghai, California, and Texas. Why is it so hard to build affordable housing?

Richard Peiser holds the Michael D. Spear Professorship in Real Estate Development at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He is the author of one of the Urban Land Institute’s all-time bestselling books, Professional Real Estate Development: the ULI Guide to the Business. In addition to teaching, he has developed homes, apartments, and industrial buildings in Texas and California, and has co-owned an investment platform in China with U.S. based institutions.