Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1988. / Title as it appeared in MIT Graduate list, February, 1988: The role of side payments in a market in disequilibrium : the market for rental housing in Egypt. / Bibliography: v.2, leaves 310-325. / by Anna Margaret Hardman. / Ph.D.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 104-105). / (cont.) ridership growth induced by UAP programs. The lessons learned are then applied in form of a university pass program at the MBTA in Boston, suggesting program designs, pricing alternatives and estimating impacts on the transit agency, universities and unlimited access pass holders. / Unlimited Access Pass (UAP) Programs--arrangements between transit agencies and universities that provide transit passes to group members at a heavily discounted rate through a group purchase program--have become a successful tool to increase ridership and decrease vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and parking demand while yielding an equivalent fare value to transit agencies. Due to the prepaid and discounted nature of the pass these programs level the playing field between the automobile and transit by virtually eliminating the perceived out-of-pocket cost of taking transit. In addition, by capturing the cross-subsidies within a functional entity, such as a university or employer, this technique has the potential to internalize the otherwise external benefits of transit use, such as reduced pressure on limited amount of expensive parking supplies and access roads. It thereby achieves a "win-win" outcome for all of the primary affected groups, while maintaining equitable revenues, increasing ridership and improving off-peak utilization. Despite the apparent success of such programs, particularly with university students, many agencies, especially the largest ones in the United States, have not offered this type of university program, let alone considered a larger scale program targeting different market segments, such as hospitals or other large employers. Drawing on case studies of three agencies that offer successful university and employer UAP programs, this thesis shows that innovative program design allows the agencies to address the most common concerns. It examines why and how UAP programs work and provides a set of implementation guidelines including a recommended pricing model that allows for an equitable and effective way of capturing revenue increases related to / by Ursula Hester. / M.C.P.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 380-407). / This research investigated the causal factors and processes of international development and diffusion of wind energy technology by examining private sector cross-border technology transfer from Denmark and Germany to India between 1990 and 2005. The motivation stemmed from the lack of active private sector participation in transfer of climate change mitigation technologies. Special attentions were paid to the role and effects of: government policy and institutional settings; co-evolution of policy, market, industry, and technology; and industrial competitiveness management. The research found that the centrality of government policy, in particular market value creation/rewarding policy, in successful wind energy technology development and diffusion at the technology frontier of Denmark and Germany. Sources of technological change were complex, but it was the policy-induced substantial market size and performance-oriented demand characteristics that determined the speed and direction of technology development and diffusion. Yet, the change was only materialized by the successful establishment of co-evolving mechanism of policy, market, industry, and technology; again, policy was central in the creation and timely adjustment of such virtuous cycle. / (cont.) The research also found strong connections between technological characteristics/specificity and industrial competitiveness management, and their intertwined transformations. On the Indian side, the increasing technology gaps in both product and capability with the frontier and the transformed structural relationship between market development and the number of new technology introduction were evident from the mid 1990s. Non-performance-oriented market mechanism, policy inconsistency, institutional problems of power sector, persistent infrastructure deficiency, along with the intertwined competitiveness management and technology transformations at the frontier, all contributed to the structural transformation; the failed virtuous cycle creation was due to strong technology- and industry-related external factors and weak demand-pull and supply push internal policy. India lost the potentials for replicable technology transfer and the larger development benefits. / by Emi Mizuno. / Ph.D.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-56). / by Alan Litchman. / M.S.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 51-54). / Since the inception of the Real Estate Investment Trust ("REIT"), the relative efficiency of the public and private real estate markets has been the subject of debate. Consequently, a determination of the more efficient real estate investment vehicle will probably have a significant effect on the future flow of capital into all real estate assets. This thesis proposes to identify which real estate investment medium, public or private, has provided greater efficiency to its investors as measured by risk adjusted total return over the 20 year period from 1978-1997. The initial objective of this thesis was to create a publicly traded real estate equity index(the "Thesis index") for comparison to the existing National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts ("NAREIT") equity index in an effort to replicate the returns of the latter. This equity Thesis index is an annual weighted compilation of the total returns of each existing equity REIT, as identified by a query of the Compustat database, for each given year from 1978 through 1997. Returns were calculated as of the calendar year end commencing in 1978 and continuing through calendar year end 1997. The core objective of this thesis was to ultimately compare the de-levered Thesis index to the existing National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries ("NCREIF") index in order to determine which index has provided a greater risk adjusted return over the time series in question. Given the disparities in the risk profiles of the underlying indices and the need to ensure a homogeneous comparison, adjustments to the Thesis index have been made in order to compensate for leverage in the REIT capital structure, for the presence of development risk in the current REIT asset base, and for the respective weight of each real estate asset class within the NCREIF index. / by Mark P. Moriarty and Pennock J. Yeatman, IV. / S.M.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1988. / Includes bibliographical references. / Deborah Ann Auger. / Ph.D.

Thesis: M.C.P., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, June 2015. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis. "June 2015." / Includes bibliographical references (pages 90-95). / What enables cooperation at the metropolitan scale? This thesis explores public transportation planning in the Mexico City metropolitan area (MCMA) for empirical evidence to better understand what institutional, financial, and political conditions encourage and deter cooperative metropolitan governance. The MCMA, made up of several state-level jurisdictions, predominantly the Federal District (DF) and the State of Mexico (Edomex), continues to expand rapidly, surpassing their jurisdictional capacities and putting pressure on infrastructure like public transit, which carries almost two-thirds of daily traffic. Unhindered and even instigated by transportation and land use decisions, growth has spilled over from the historic downtown area, concentrated in the northern half of the DF, into Edomex, complicating the development, implementation, and enforcement of policies across the two jurisdictions. Using three cases of recent metropolitan-scale transit projects - Linea B, the Tren Suburbano, and Méxibus Linea 4 - as a lens, this thesis investigates how institutions and actors approach the jurisdictional and functional divides between the states, and how they have done so in the past. By examining the interactions of the various actors and institutions around the planning and implementation of each case, this thesis argues that the broadening of the transportation policy network reflects a more effective approach to metropolitan governance, auguring a future in which cooperation and competition in fact coexist at this scale not only within the realm of public transportation but also as part of overall urban dynamics. / by Callida Cenizal. / M.C.P.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1990. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 303-322). / by Mary Margaret Lynch. / Ph.D.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-89). / (cont.) developers to produce more green affordable housing. / This thesis examines development barriers to green buildings, particularly to green affordable housing. Green buildings offer intangible benefits in the form of improved environment and health through better air quality. Certain green features also offer significant life-cycle operating savings. These advantages are particularly valuable for affordable housing projects, where low operating costs are critical to affordability and higher indoor air quality is beneficial to modest-income residents that can rarely affect the quality of their living environment. Furthermore, there are many monetary, regulatory, and technical regulations and incentives in the U.S. to promote green building development. Notwithstanding the above advantages and supports, green affordable housing is not yet standard practice. Information and incentives are identified as two of the most important and easy-to-implement tools to promote green affordable housing development. Examples of available information and incentive mechanisms in the U.S. are briefly presented for the green affordable housing industry. Meanwhile, gaps and dysfunctions in the application of these tools are identified as development barriers. The Upham's Corner Marketplace Redevelopment in Massachusetts is presented as an example of a green affordable housing project. Finally, recommendations are made to better utilize information and incentives as tools to promote and sustain green affordable housing development. A green guarantee program, with more efficient information collection and incentive application, is proposed as a means to simplify and standardize certain aspects of the development process for green affordable housing to lower project risks, and to encourage investors and / by Lining Geng. / S.M. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P. and S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 130-131). / During the last two decades community development corporations (CDCs) have expanded their inner city revitalization efforts from affordable housing to other activities such as commercial real estate development. In the City of Boston alone, CDCs have developed several commercial projects totaling over 406,000 square feet of space. Although the scale and costs of these projects were different, they have something in common: significant public subsidy to fill the gap between the cost of the project and the value after completion. CDCs justify the public subsidy with the argument that commercial projects revitalize distressed neighborhoods, creating jobs for local residents, improving the physical appearance and business climate of the neighborhoods, increasing the variety of products available to residents, and creating local wealth. However, must of the evidence about the impact of commercial development on revitalization is anecdotal. Without a full understanding of how commercial real estate impact local communities, it is difficult to justify these public investments. This thesis proposes a framework to assess the impact of commercial development on inner city revitalization using five impact indicators, these are 1) job and income creation, 2) fiscal impact, 3) leverage of private capital, 4) physical improvement and overall revitalization, and 5) impact on capacity building. This framework is utilized to analyze the impact of two CDC-sponsored commercial projects in Boston. These projects are the JP Center in Hyde/Jackson Square and Egleston Center in Egleston Square. This thesis demonstrates that the public benefits generated by both projects out weighted the public investment. It proves that job creation and physical improvement are the most significant impact on revitalization. The thesis examines the two case studies through the tension between local constituents and CDCs when developing commercial projects. That is, commercial projects require strong credit-worthy tenants-typically national tenants-to make the project financially viable. Without such tenants these projects will not leverage private financing, which in turn will further increase the subsidy required. However, attempts to bring national tenants to CDC-sponsored commercial projects are seen as threatening to existing businesses and perceived as not contributing to local wealth creation. As a result, CDC-sponsored projects face local opposition that counters the revitalization of the neighborhood. This thesis asserts that CDCs can attract national tenants to anchor their commercial projects and strengthen local businesses simultaneously. The thesis proposes alternative models to achieve both goals and spur the revitalization of inner city commercial districts. / by Manuel Martínez Hernández. / M.C.P.and S.M.