The Future of Cities: Entrepreneurship, Policy & Business Strategy

Cities are where billions of people live and they are the engine for innovation and economic growth. They are also going through enormous change and battling with fundamental problems, like housing, transportation, urban planning, the environment, safety, transparency and more. Innovation offers the promise of exciting solutions. But for that change to happen, it must serve the interests of the people who live in a city and overcome the challenges of politics and policymaking. The class will focus on this intersection. We will analyze cities as a distinct phenomenon, look at what is possible technologically, and explore how change can be made to happen. The class will consist of a combination of case studies, guest speakers, and class discussion. It will be led by Steve Callander, GSB Professor of Political Economy, and Sarah Hunter, the director of Global Public Policy at X, the google Moonshot Factory.