Stern Students Work to Help Housing Efforts in Mexico City
During the Spring 2014 semester, New York University’s Stern School of Business MBA students David Baharestani, Laura Fox and Craig Johnson worked with Urbanization Project Research Scholar Alain Bertaud and Marron Institute Research Scholar Alejandra Rangel Smith on a Stern Signature Project (SSP) to contribute to the Marron Institute’s efforts in Mexico City.
The project was conducted under the leadership of Paul Romer, Director of the Urbanization Project and Interim Director of New York University’s Marron Institute on Cities and the Urban Environment.
“The housing supply in Mexico City meets only 50 percent of the current demand,” said Craig Johnson. “And the backlog builds each year so it will get worse over time. Cities all over the world are experiencing similar challenges, particularly in the developing world, and we had the opportunity to develop a new solution.”
In May 2014, the students traveled to Mexico City to tour troubled residential zones and present their findings to Commissioner Simón Neumann, head of the city’s Ministry of Urban Development and Housing (SEDUVI).
“The focus of our project was to analyze Mexico City’s zoning regulations and assess their impact on the affordable housing supply,” said Laura Fox. “We are affecting a longer-term momentum shift here. As MBAs we all want to be ‘boots on the ground’ and to get this tangible experience that has been really meaningful. No other MBA program has an urbanization program like Stern’s, and this project has been a fulfillment of why I came to the School.”
About the Author
Erin Purcell
Staff Writer, covering MetroMBA's news beat for New York, Philadelphia, and Boston.
