Climate Change Resilience and Adaptation

Through the lens of climate change, this foundation course surveys the intellectual development of resilience and adaptation in the social, natural and applied sciences. Through a critical reading and analysis of central bodies of literature, students are provided a conceptual and empirical basis for exploring applied practices and policies advanced in the name of climate change adaptation. The practice component of the course focuses on community resilience in urban planning and policy, technical resilience in civil and systems engineering, multi-hazard risk assessment in disaster risk management, and adaptation mainstreaming in the public and private sectors. This range of applications reflects the opportunities for a diversity of actors to engage in new forms of practice that synthetically negotiate and mediate various socioeconomic and biophysical forces. Positioned within an emerging field of study, this course identifies many of the key unanswered questions that are critical for future conceptual and empirical development. With a focus on environmental change and the built environment, students will develop a critical understanding of relevant public policies and institutions, design and engineering techniques, economic strategies and planning models. The course pedagogy balances lectures, seminar readings and case study reviews to link theory with practice. Students may select their final course evaluation to be based on either be a final exam or a paper. The intent is to utilize the course as a means of research support for students across the university who may be incorporating aspects of resilience and adaptation scholarship into their existing theses, dissertations and peer-review manuscripts. This course is open to masters and doctoral students at the KSG, HSPH, FAS, MIT and Tufts.

U. S. Housing Markets, Problems, and Policies

This course will examine the operation of U.S. housing markets, the principal housing problems facing the nation, and the policy approaches available to address these problems within the existing political, regulatory and market context.  The course is structured around four central housing problems that are the focus of US housing policy:  the inability of a large share of renters to obtain housing that meets generally accepted affordability standards; the challenges facing low-income and minority households in attaining homeownership; the high degree of residential segregation by race/ethnicity and income and associated differential access to public and private resources that results; and how housing policy can support broader efforts at community development.  Each section of the course will develop a detailed understanding of the nature of the problem, how the operation of housing markets either produce or fail to address the problem, introduce the principal federal, state and local policy approaches available to address the problem, and wrestle with critical policy questions that arise in choosing how best to address the problem.

The goal of the course is to build both a foundation of knowledge and a critical perspective needed to diagnose the genesis of the nation’s housing problems, to identify the potential policy levers for addressing these failures, and assess the relative merits of alternative approaches.  Class sessions will be a mixture of lecture and class discussions focusing on the assigned readings.  Students will be expected to come to class prepared to be fully engaged participants in these discussions. Over the course of the semester, students will be required to prepare periodic reviews of assigned readings shared on Canvas, submit a 5-page paper making the case for a specific policy proposal, and complete a take home final exam.  The course is intended for graduate students with an interest in US housing policy, although no previous background in housing policy or disciplinary training is required.

Housing and Urbanization in Global Cities

The subject of Housing and Urbanization in Global Cities examines housing policy and planning in urban societies around the world and especially in the Global South. Through slide presentations, discussions, guest lectures, texts, and exercises, we examine the dynamic growth of cities; the ideological impulses to combat slum conditions and provide mass housing; the resulting anti-slum and housing programs; the means of financing such programs; and the effects of design and planning on people and their communities.

The first part of the course is devoted to history and theory. We examine the historical emergence of the twin problems of slums and housing in Europe during its era of intense urbanization; the export of Western housing and anti-slum policies to the developing world; the furious debate over the nature of informal settlements in the Global South; and the fundamental concepts of land use and housing policy.

In the second part of the course, we take up the practical application of housing policies in different national environments around the globe. Using the cases of Bogotá, Mumbai, Johannesburg, and Beijing, we study the ways private developers, planners, designers, non-government organization officers, and government officials work within local systems of land use, law, and finance to respond to informal settlements and produce homes for people. Students will work in teams to evaluate specific housing programs in the first three cities and in the fourth, Beijing, to propose a planning strategy to improve particular sites.

This course helps prepare students for international planning and design studios, housing studios, and courses on housing or social policy in general. It will appeal to graduate school designers, planners, and public policy students interested in social engagement and the diverse methods of producing low-income housing in global cities. Other than graduate school enrollment, there are no prerequisites.

Jointly Offered Course: HKS SUP-662

Theories for Practice in Conflict, Crisis, and Recovery

Course topics and objectives:

How do we understand the relationship between crisis, recovery and the built environment at the beginning of the 21st century? Conflicts and disasters are both symptoms and evidence of asymmetrical urban, territorial, and social development. For this reason, any ethically defensible response to a catastrophic event should go beyond “mere” reconstruction and imagine new, more resilient, and more equitable forms of urbanization. This research seminar will therefore examine situations of ‘post-disaster recovery’, as an opportunity to rethink, conceptually redefine, and proactively reconstruct or reconfigure new forms of urbanization.

To begin, we explore the social construction of crisis, disasters and emergencies through a critical interpretive lens, as well as situate contemporary discourses on disaster response within theories of modernization, crisis, and the ‘natural’. We identify the conditions under which certain crises or related challenges are considered normal or routine, as opposed to exceptional. We move beyond the abstract to ground our inquiry in the physical world. We examine the variety of actors involved in recovery interventions – including international institutions, NGOs, citizens, professional planners, political parties – and critically reflect on the role of technology and infrastructure, and various other methodologies deployed to achieve post-disaster aims.

Course format and methods of evaluation:

This course is a reading, writing, and research seminar. It requires sustained participation throughout the semester. Readings span multiple disciplines in the social sciences: urban studies, geography, sociology, political philosophy, and science and technology studies (STS). Some assignments are collective, others individual. Several guests will present themes ranging from the history of disaster, to post-conflict reconciliation, and new technologies of crisis response. Students will use a variety of methodologies such as analytical mapping and design techniques as well as archival, survey, planning, ecological, engineering, and critical conservation practices to offer projective ideas and grounded proposals for novel reconstruction practices that aim for a more vibrant, sustainable, and equitable urbanism.

Building and Leading Real Estate Enterprises and Entrepreneurship

This course focuses on how you conceive, build and lead successful real estate companies. By virtue of the industry in which they compete, real estate companies are almost always founded and developed by entrepreneurs. A few grow to become category killers; others are able to compete in a crowded and competitive landscape. Many, however, are eventually closed down; sometimes due to changing market forces, sometimes due to lack of good corporate strategy or execution, and sometimes due to the founder neglecting to institutionalize a lasting organization to succeed him or her.

Taught through a combination of lectures, cases and analytical problems, this course examines (primarily through the lens of real estate investment and development companies), the critical ingredients required to grow and lead long-term competitive enterprises. The course will begin with an examination of how to optimize the performance of real properties and then migrate to the design and development of successful companies that own or service properties.

At the end of this course, students should gain a deeper appreciation of how owners think and act when they oversee their companies. They will specifically be introduced to how to develop a robust strategy, capital plan, corporate culture and execution capability that are part of every great real estate company. Students taking this course should also be able to construct the elements of a simple business plan for a startup. Students are also encouraged to think about how they may launch their own real estate enterprise during the course, and to make active use of other Harvard resources, including Harvard clubs and facilities like the I-lab, as they think through their entrepreneurial opportunities.

Paired Course: Although not mandatory, this course is meant to be taken in conjunction with GSD 5275,  which meets the first half of the semester; it is also 2 credits and meets at the same time as 5276. GSD 5276 will build on many of the questions and concepts that 5275 postulates.

Advanced Real Estate Finance

This course builds on GSD 5204 and comparable introductory real estate courses offered by other schools at Harvard. This year’s course covers five main topics: (1) Advanced Financial Analysis and Deal Structuring for Acquisitions (including waterfalls), (2) Advanced Financial Analysis and Structuring for Land and Development Projects, (3) Debt Financing and Debt Investments, (4) Real Estate Market Cycles and Portfolio Structuring, (5) Management and recovery of Assets in a Distressed Environment

The objective of the course is to give students in-depth financial analytical skills for project acquisitions and development, real estate financing, and portfolio management. Using case studies and lectures, the course focuses on advanced real estate topics for all major real estate product-types including apartments, office, retail, industrial, single-family, and land development. A major emphasis in the class is to build students’ financial modeling skills and their knowledge of advanced industry practices. Many cases will require students to apply a full range of acquisition, development, investment, disposition, financing, and management decisions at the property level. Key decision-making for all phases of the development process including site selection, design, financing, construction, leasing, operations, and sales are stressed throughout the first half of the course. Other strategic requirements for completing successful projects such as acquisition due diligence, debt and equity structuring, market cycle timing, and asset recovery in a distressed environment are covered during the other half.

Paired Course: Although not mandatory, this course is meant to be taken in conjunction with GSD 5276, which takes place in the second half of the semester; it is also 2 credits and meets at the same time as 5275. GSD 5276 will build on many of the questions and concepts that 5275 postulates.

Cities by Design II: Projects, Processes, and Outcomes

Cities are palimpsests. They are the spatial manifestations of a layering and re-layering of social and environmental systems over time. Cities by Design II is a lecture/seminar that introduces students to contemporary urban design projects through the case study method, with emphasis on critical contextualization and implementation. GSD faculty and outside experts will introduce 15-20 projects with lectures, readings, and class discussions. Beyond familiarizing students with contemporary urban design projects, this course will equip students with an understanding of the broader implications of urban design including historical contexts, institutional influences, financing mechanisms, stakeholder involvement, and other process-related aspects of urban design. Students will examine projects through two lenses: (1) Infrastructure (the what), and (2) Agency (the who, how, and why).

This year, case studies will be organized by Paradigm: Parks, Linear Infrastructures, Campuses, Megaform Cities, Housing Developments, Brownfield Reclamation, Resilient Systems, Component Aggregations, Conservation, Slums, and New Districts.

There are two main pedagogical objectives that guide the course: (1) Engage students in a comparative study of contemporary urban design projects as a way to broaden their understanding of how urban design happens, and (2) Explore the interrelationship of urban politics and urban design through projects that range in context, scale, and operational capacity. Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:

Term grades will be based on attendance and participation in lectures and section discussions, student group presentations, and a final paper or project. The year-long ‘Cities by Design’ course is mandatory for all incoming Masters of Urban Design Students. All other students are welcome to enroll in the course by semester, and need not do so in sequence. No Prerequisites.

Urban Politics and Planning (at HKS)

In the face of failures and dysfunction at the national level, there is growing excitement about the welfare- and democracy-enhancing potential of cities. Yet, not all cities are able to realize their promise as engines of economic growth and human development. Why some fail, while others succeed depends crucially on the politics and governance practices that shape cities and metropolitan regions. Understanding the politics of urban planning and development is therefore fundamental to unlocking the potential of our cities to boost the wealth, health, and well-being of citizens and communities. This course focuses on urban politics in the United States and Europe. Key topics include U.S. and European urban politics viewed in the large, and more specifically the politics of land-use, economic development, housing, water, policing, and transit. Cross-cutting themes include: the role of business and non-profits in local governance; citizen participation and urban social movements; the importance of race, ethnicity, and class in shaping group conflict and co-operation at the local level; as well as the costs and benefits of local government fragmentation. The course involves in-class exercises, group work, and simulations, as well as guest lectures. Most class sessions build off single-city case studies, including written and multi-media cases on Stuttgart, New Orleans, Atlanta, Naples, Seattle, New York, Portland, Chicago, Detroit, London, Boston, and Copenhagen.

The course purposes are twofold: (1) to enhance your sophistication in thinking about and analyzing the factors and conditions that shape political and planning processes at the urban level and what their consequences are; and (2) to hone your skills in thinking strategically about how to exercise influence in and on these decision processes.

Jointly Offered Course: HKS SUP-601

Public and Private Development

This course explores the analytic frameworks, skills, and bodies of knowledge required to understand, evaluate, plan, and implement public and private development within cities and surrounding regions. Using lectures, discussions, case studies, and individual/team exercises, the course teaches students how to measure the complex blend of public and private actions promoting growth and change against financial, economic, legal, institutional, political, and other planning metrics. Planning techniques that are specifically explored include, among others, public subsidies (grants and loans), public land acquisition and disposition through RFPs, strategic provision of physical infrastructure, inclusionary zoning, linkage, and business improvement districts.

Jointly Offered Course: HKS SUP-668

 

Priority enrollment is given to first year Urban Planning students. MDes REBE students who select the course first in the limited enrollment course lottery will also be prioritized in determining lottery results. Additional seats will be available for via the limited enrollment course lottery, and if capacity is avialble, via the standard course registration process.

Informal Robotics / New Paradigms for Design & Construction

Today new materials and fabrication techniques are transforming the field of robotics. Rather than rigid metal parts connected by mechanical components, robots may now be made of folded paper, carbon laminates or soft gels. They may be formed fully integrated from a 2D or 3D printer rather than assembled from individual components. Light, compliant, highly customized – we are seeing the emergence of a new design paradigm.

Informal Robotics is a direct collaboration between the Wyss Institute’s Bioinspired Robotics platform (http://wyss.harvard.edu/viewpage/204/bioinspired-robotics) and the GSD.  Within the class, you will interact with Wyss researchers who will share their unique designs for ambulatory and flying robots, end-effectors, medical instruments and other applications.

The class will explore informal robotics from multiple perspectives, culminating with the design and fabrication of original devices displaying animated intelligence in real-time. Going beyond traditional engineering approaches, we will also explore new opportunities for design at the product, architectural, and urban scales.

The class will be organized along four primary topics:
– Kinematics includes an overview of mechanism principles, design techniques for pop-ups, flat-folding origami structures, and soft mechanisms.

– Fabrication methods will be explored through workshops on use of composite materials, laminated assembly techniques, self-folding, and integrated flexures.

– Controls considers how to actuate movement and program desired behavior. Topics include servos, linear actuators, shape memory alloys (SMAs) and use of Arduino for sensing and actuator control.

Applications takes us beyond purely technological concerns, contextualizing Informal Robotics within larger trends where materials, manufacturing and computation are starting to merge.

Format, prerequisites, evaluation:
This course includes weekly lectures, workshops, and guest lectures. There will be assignments to produce test mechanisms and CAD models, followed by final group projects. Presentations and discussions of ongoing student work are integral to the course. Although, there are no firm prerequisites, some knowledge of scripting and/or fabrication using CNC machines is helpful. Evaluation will be based on completion of assignments and the final project.

Seminar/ Workshop in collaboration with the Wyss Institute’s Bioinspired Robotics Platform

Jointly Offered Course: SEAS ES256