Alain Bertaud
- Distinguished Visiting Scholar
Alain Bertaud is a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He began his career in urban planning when he grew bored at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and hitchhiked to India, where he worked for Le Corbusier as a draftsman in the construction of Chandigarh. After returning to school and graduating, he worked as a resident urban planner in cities around the world: Bangkok, San Salvador (El Salvador), Port au Prince (Haiti), Sana’a (Yemen), New York, Paris, and Tlemcen (Algeria), often collaborating with GIS expert Marie-Agnès Bertaud. From 1980 to 1999, Bertaud was principal urban planner at the World Bank. After retiring from the Bank, he worked as an independent consultant. His 2018 book “Order Without Design: How Markets Shape Cities” has been translated into Chinese and Portuguese. Bertaud is a Senior Fellow at the NYU Marron Institute.
Bertaud’s research aims to bridge the gap between operational urban planning and urban economics. He has published articles in the Journal of Urban Economics, Journal of Housing Economics, and Regional Science and Urban Economics focusing on the impact on urban form of the complex interaction between land markets, transport networks and regulations. Bertaud earned the Architecte DPLG diploma from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
Featured Research
"Order without Design: How Markets Shape Cities". The MIT Press, December 2018.
Latest Work
- | Housing Housing
- | Podcast Appearance Podcast Appearance
Urban Planning and Cities | The Great Antidote
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Vancouver’s Housing Challenges Are a Cautionary Tale for Successful, Well-managed Cities | Discourse
- | Housing Housing
- | Podcast Appearance Podcast Appearance
Conversations That Matter: How Markets Shape Cities | The Vancouver Sun
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
What Is Wrong with Henry George-Type Taxation? | City Journal
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Zoning Plans Are Wasting Scarce Land Supply | The Vancouver Sun
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Finding the Right Balance | Discourse
- | Housing Housing
- | Podcast Appearance Podcast Appearance
Ideas of India: Order Without Design
- | Housing Housing
- | TV Appearance TV Appearance
Rethinking the Role of Government in City Development | CID Harvard
Latest Work
- | Housing Housing
- | Podcast Appearance Podcast Appearance
Urban Planning and Cities | The Great Antidote
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Vancouver’s Housing Challenges Are a Cautionary Tale for Successful, Well-managed Cities | Discourse
- | Housing Housing
- | Podcast Appearance Podcast Appearance
Conversations That Matter: How Markets Shape Cities | The Vancouver Sun
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
What Is Wrong with Henry George-Type Taxation? | City Journal
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Zoning Plans Are Wasting Scarce Land Supply | The Vancouver Sun
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Finding the Right Balance | Discourse
- | Housing Housing
- | Podcast Appearance Podcast Appearance
Ideas of India: Order Without Design
- | Housing Housing
- | TV Appearance TV Appearance
Rethinking the Role of Government in City Development | CID Harvard
Latest Work
Latest Work
- | Housing Housing
- | Podcast Appearance Podcast Appearance
Urban Planning and Cities | The Great Antidote
- | Housing Housing
- | Podcast Appearance Podcast Appearance
Conversations That Matter: How Markets Shape Cities | The Vancouver Sun
- | Housing Housing
- | Podcast Appearance Podcast Appearance
Ideas of India: Order Without Design
- | Housing Housing
- | TV Appearance TV Appearance
Rethinking the Role of Government in City Development | CID Harvard
- | Housing Housing
- | Podcast Appearance Podcast Appearance
Alain Bertaud on Cities, Markets, and People | Conversations with Tyler
- | Housing Housing
- | Podcast Appearance Podcast Appearance
Alain Bertaud on Cities, Planning, and Order Without Design | EconTalk
- | Podcast Appearance Podcast Appearance
Order Without Design | Podcast
Latest Work
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Vancouver’s Housing Challenges Are a Cautionary Tale for Successful, Well-managed Cities | Discourse
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
What Is Wrong with Henry George-Type Taxation? | City Journal
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Zoning Plans Are Wasting Scarce Land Supply | The Vancouver Sun
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Finding the Right Balance | Discourse
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary