Urban Futures Institute
Shaping sustainable, technology-enabled cities and real estate for future generations
Urban Futures Institute is a nonprofit organization (registered in Massachusetts, USA) dedicated to advancing sustainability and technology in urban development and real estate through education, applied research, and cross-sector collaboration.
We bring together like-minded scholars, practitioners, and policymakers from around the world to address the most pressing challenges facing cities today — from housing and commercial real estate, to mobility and infrastructure, from urban and proptech innovation, to sustainability, resilience, effective governance, and the responsible use of AI and technology in urban and real estate settings.
Our primary focus is knowledge exchange, grounded in empirically rigorous urban science and real estate research: we develop new knowledge products and design and deliver educational programs for urban professionals, policymakers, city and business leaders, and the young generation who are passionate about cities. We believe that well-educated, globally connected people are the most powerful force for building better cities.
Latest news & events
Fall 2026
Asia Urban Lab
We are Matthew Kahn and Siqi Zheng, two urban economists who spend a lot of time thinking about Asia’s cities. The Asia Urban Lab is where we think with people on the ground about what is changing in those cities and why. We want to build this small community to think and discuss together with you.
Summer 2026
Cities & Real Estate:
A 3-Session Young Scholars Summer Hybrid Workshop
June 30, 2026
Analyzing the New Tech Shock on the Real Estate Sector
On June 30, Siqi Zheng gave a public lecture at Tsinghua University, hosted with the Hang Lung Center for Real Estate and chaired by Dean Wu Jing. Her argument: AI is delivering two opposite shocks to real estate at once — dampening demand for traditional office space while driving an explosion in digital infrastructure, with data centers projected to reach 8–12% of total electricity consumption by 2030 — and the industry needs to rethink its asset allocation logic accordingly.
Co-Founders
James Scott
President
Director of Industry and Professional Programs; Lecturer; Research Scientist, Real Estate Technology Hub
Siqi Zheng
Vice President
STL Champion Professor of Urban and Real Estate Sustainability; Faculty Director, MIT Center for Real Estate; Faculty Director, MIT Sustainable Urbanization Lab
Knowledge Exchange
June 8 — August 28 2026
Cities & Real Estate:
A 3-Session Young Scholars Summer Hybrid Workshop
June 18, 2026
Analyzing the AI Shock
on the Real Estate Sector
June 30, 2026
Analyzing the New Tech Shock on the Real Estate Sector
June 30, 2026
Beyond the Cycle: Can China’s Real Estate Market Find New Equilibrium?
Knowledge Products
June 2026
Managing Physical Risk in Commercial Real Estate Report
Coming Soon
Coming Soon