Urban Development Program - Overview

The Urban Development Program has two purposes:

  1. To provide an intensive yet balanced education on the nature of urbanism, the processes affecting urban growth, and the methods and techniques used to analyze urban markets land use and urbanization.

  2. To prepare students for careers in businesses and agencies concerned with urban development.

The Urban Development Program started in 1980 and produced its first graduating class in 1983. It immediately met considerable interest and success, and grew continuously to have between 30 and 60 students enrolled. At the time of its inception, the program was unique in Canada. Befitting the old real estate adage of “location, location, location” the program has been hosted by Geography, but it is an interdisciplinary program because it draws heavily from disciplines such as economics, business, management and organizational studies, political science, and demography.

The objective of the UDP is to ensure that graduates understand the processes of urban growth and change matched with the analytical skills required to create opportunities and solve problems. It emphasizes the relative importance of the enterprises influencing the urban landscape. Since the program is oriented towards the behaviour of businesses and individuals, the UDP should not be confused with a “planning program”. If students wish to combine knowledge of urban processes with well-developed analytic skills and business acumen, Western’s UDP has and continues to fill this void with considerable success!

Western’s Urban Development Program provides an excellent background for careers in businesses such as real estate management and research firms, planning consultants, land developers, appraisal firms, financial institutions, retail organizations, industrial location consultants, and federal and provincial ministries concerned with revenue, housing, and urban and regional development. Graduates of the program are now pursing careers in all of these areas in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia, and many are now in the middle and upper echelons of both corporations and governments.

Urban Development Program Seminar Featuring Dr Paul Anglin on “House Price Dynamics”

The Urban Development Program & Department of Geography at UWO in collaboration with METRIX Realty Group, present Dr Paul Anglin (University of Guelph) who will be speaking about “House Price Dynamics”.
When: February 3, 2011
Time: 11:30-1:00 pm
Where: Social Sciences Centre room 3028
Description:
Recent events have demonstrated the power of housing markets around the world to keep worried home buyers awake at night and to disrupt financial markets. Yet, the differences between different types of dynamics are not well-understood. This presentation discusses how the forces of supply and demand (as discussed in a classroom) help to identify “fundamental value” and notes that something extra needs to be understood when those same forces apply to a good as durable as a house. It also discusses some of the experiences of various countries when house prices appear to be increasing “too fast”, and some policy initiatives.
Paul Anglin is a tenured Associate Professor in the College of Management and Economics, University of Guelph. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario in Economic Theory. His best known research focuses on the issues of how houses are bought and sold with a special emphasis on how long the process takes and on the role of real estate agents in that process. He has also contributed ideas to a diverse set of questions including price dynamics, price indices, and information asymmetry (and physics). His work, using both empirical and analytical methods, has been published in leading journals such as the Journal of Political Economy, the Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Public Policy, Real Estate Economics and the Journal of Real Estate Research. He is a member of the Editorial Board for Real Estate Economics. He is currently learning more about curious questions related to corporate governance, model risk and judgment. Since graduating, he has taught a wide range of courses. After listening to students and other smart people, he asserts that most of the techniques discussed in these courses implement five basic principles. These principles represent features shared by a surprising range of issues, and most mistakes or apparent paradoxes in a market-based environment seem to begin by forgetting one or more of these principles.

Urban Development Program Alumni group on LinkedIn

The UWO Urban Development Program (UDP), in conjunction with the Alumni and Development Officer for the Faculty of Social Science would like you introduce a new networking group for UDP Alumni on LinkedIn. LinkedIn has become the leading professional networking tool on the internet. We encourage you to consider joining this free group. We believe this is a great vehicle for UDP Alumni to get and stay connected. To join the "UWO Alumni - Urban Development Program" group, please register at LinkedIn

Questions?

Please contact the Urban Program Director, Dr. Jason Gilliland, with any questions regarding the Urban Development Program.

Phone: 519-661-2111, Ext. 81239

Email: jgillila@uwo.ca