Enlightenment Evening: How Markets Shape Cities

​Join us on Monday, 7th July to discuss the economics of decentralised urban planning and housing policy with Professor Alain Bertaud.

​​Everyone knows we need new houses. But how we build those houses is of equal importance. And, unsurprisingly, we believe the answer lies in bottom-up market dynamics rather than top-down central planning. Urban economics gives us the tools to apply these ideas and produce cities that both increase human productivity and human welfare. So come along to hear how liberal economics and organic urban planning is the solution to our housing crisis.

​​​​Professor Alain Bertaud is a former Principal Urban Planner at the World Bank, a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Mercatus Center, George Mason University, and a senior research scholar at the New York University Marron Institute of Urban Management. In 2018, he published his book “Order Without Design: How Markets Shape Cities.”

​​​​Doors open at 6pm for a sharp 6.30pm start. There will be a 15-minute address by Professor Bertaud followed by 10–15 minutes of audience Q&A.

​This is hosted in partnership with our good friends at The YIMBY Initiative.

​​​Housekeeping:
Date: Monday, 7th July 2025
Time: 6:00-8:00pm (no earlier - come rain or shine!)
Where: 23 Great Smith Street, London, SW1P 3DJ

​​​Refreshments provided 🍷