Urban development and real estate are about contributing to the built environment and designing more livable communities. The ingredients for success involve vision, active engagement with the community, and working with various fields and sectors to implement solutions.
Price faculty include renowned experts and influencers — they have been named to leadership and advisory roles at the U.S Department of Housing & Urban Development, and provided expert testimony to the Senate Committees on Finance and Banking.
SLAB Director Annette Kim’s op-ed in The Atlantic examines how computer analysis of satellite images for developing cities will often overlook some urban communities whose settlements are unplanned; and as a result, many of the poorest residents are harmed by inadequately distributing public services.
During the workshop, which aims to increase diversity in MPL programs, Professor David Sloane explained that state and local governments, as well as grassroots efforts, are taking more ownership over how their own communities are being built.
Professor Gen Giuliano and two recent Ph.D. students won the 2017 ACSP Chester Rapkin Award for best paper in the Journal of Planning Education and Research (JPER).
Professor Richard Green’s working paper finds that an influx of college grads in a city increases wages for workers of all levels – but the increase in housing costs offsets the higher earnings for low-skilled workers.
The APA honor recognizes the students’ community outreach program, “Planning for College,” which provides local high schoolers the opportunity to visit USC and learn about urban planning careers.
Adam Daneshgar MRED ’09 says the iconic location showcases the city’s cultural diversity, and he “wanted to keep that value instilled in the market going forward.”
Founded in 1993, the Ross Minority Program in Real Estate started as a way to contribute to rebuilding after the Los Angeles civil unrest.
The working group will make recommendations for tenant protections in unincorporated L.A. County, which has become increasingly unaffordable for its approximately one million residents.
“Half of humanity now lives in urban areas. As challenges of sustainability, economic development, human health, and democratic governance play out in mega-cities across the globe, urban planners will have an increasingly critical role to play.”
“Industry leaders appreciate our interdisciplinary reach. We fund research across the USC campus and bring useful, rigorous information to them that’s not found anywhere else. And, they bring to our faculty and students a depth that nobody else can match.”
“The Price School and BS RED program have allowed me to see the field of real estate from both a business and public point of view. With the interdisciplinary education offered by Price, I am able to approach real estate development issues from a holistic viewpoint that will best serve both people and business interests.”
“I interned at the LA Department of Transportation in the Bicycle and Pedestrian Division. I learned the ins and outs of local government agencies, how to manage a citywide bicycle parking program, and how to work with nonprofits and Council offices to enact transportation safety improvements in a city that is extremely dependent on cars. The urban design principles, sustainable planning methods, and community engagement tools that I learned in the classroom helped me succeed in my internship. The MPL program’s intensive weekend courses made it possible for me to accept a full-time job with Santa Barbara County during my last semester of school.”
| Name | Position | Expertise | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Tridib Banerjee | Professor James Irvine Chair in Urban and Regional Planning | Urban design, comparative urbanism, urban sprawl, developing world urbanization, planning theory |
 | Marlon Boarnet | Professor Chair, Department of Urban Planning and Spatial Analysis | Transportation, travel behavior, urban growth patterns, regional science, urban economics |
 | Mary Lynne Boorn | Associate Professor (Teaching) | Principles of real estate, real estate finance, real estate development |
 | Elizabeth Currid-Halkett | Professor James Irvine Chair in Urban and Regional Planning | Economic development, cultural economy, social networks, urban growth, economic geography |
 | Jorge De la Roca | Assistant Professor | Urban economics, labor economics, economic geography, urban migration |
 | Liz Falletta | Associate Professor (Teaching) | Architecture, urban design, design criticism |
 | Genevieve Giuliano | Professor Margaret and John Ferraro Chair in Effective Local Government Director, METRANS Transportation Center | Transportation policy, metropolitan spatial structure, travel demand, urban transportation |
 | Richard K. Green | Professor Director and Chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate Chair, Department of Policy Analysis and Real Estate | Economics, housing markets, housing policy, tax policy, transportation, mortgage finance, urban growth |
 | Eric Heikkila | Professor Director, Office of Global Engagement | Urban development, economic development, East Asian cities, urban economics, urban information systems |
 | Annette M. Kim | Associate Professor Director, Spatial Analysis Lab (SLAB) | Housing and land use; international development planning; East Asian urbanization; race, arts, and placemaking; critical mapping and urban analytics |
 | Geraldine Knatz | Professor of the Practice of Policy and Engineering | Seaport policy and management, maritime transportation, international trade, seaport sustainability, environmental impact analysis |
 | Martin H. Krieger | Professor | Defense policy; uncertainty and ambiguity; mathematical modeling of urban phenomena and their foundations in mathematics and physics; aural and photographic documentation of cities, especially Southern California; planning theory and design theory; urban spatial processes; mathematical modeling; environmental policy |
 | John Loper | Associate Professor (Teaching) | Real estate development, real estate finance, urban and suburban development, master planned communities, urban design |
 | Leonard Mitchell | Professor of the Practice of Economic Development Executive Director, Center for Economic Development | Real estate development finance and law, regional and local economic development, economic development finance and law, international trade finance and law |
 | James Elliott Moore, II | Professor | Economic impact analysis, engineering economics, transportation engineering, urban transportation, infrastructure performance |
 | Dowell Myers | Professor Director, Population Dynamics Research Group | Demographic change, future of California, housing impacts, workforce and education, immigration and assimilation, communication for consensus about change |
 | Gary Dean Painter | Professor Director, USC Sol Price Center for Social Innovation Director, Homelessness Policy Research Institute | Social Innovation, Housing economics, Urban economics, education policy, program evaluation |
 | Jane Pisano | Professor | International relations, public administration, civic engagement |
 | Christian L. Redfearn | Associate Professor Borstein Family Endowed Professor of Real Estate | Public policy, urban economics, housing markets, real estate finance |
 | Jovanna Rosen | Research Assistant Professor | Community and economic development, community investment, urban sustainability |
| Lisa Schweitzer | Professor | Environmental justice, Sustainable transportation, Hazardous materials in urban environments, Community environmental quality |
 | David Sloane | Professor | Urban history, community health planning, health disparaties, cultural landscapes |
Professor and Lusk Center Director Richard Green found that the rise of more educated people with higher incomes in metropolitan areas has increased housing/rent costs that predominantly affect the less educated — widening the class divide.
USC Lusk Center researchers dig into data – analyzing housing supply, demand, and cost – to inform business practices and address the big questions that affect the real estate industry, the urban economy, and public policy.
USC Price’s Spatial Analysis Lab (SLAB) innovates ways to create data and stories, particularly of marginalized populations and places. Synergizing with the arts and humanities, SLAB’s experiments seek to advance the visualization of the social sciences for public service through research, public engagement, and teaching.
Students can take classes in Price’s Spatial Analysis Teaching Laboratory where they are encouraged to innovate in producing knowledge with new data, cultural media, and public engagement.
