The Metro Lab is an MIT-affiliated initiative promoted by Fellows

The Metro Lab is an MIT-affiliated initiative promoted by Fellows from the Special Program for Urban
and Regional Studies (SPURS) and students from the Department of Urban Studies and Planning
(DUSP) interested in metropolitan issues. Our first conference explores a range of “metropolitan gaps”
in both theory and practice. The conference will bring together practitioners and scholars to discuss
metropolitan challenges. During an afternoon workshop attendees will be invited to envision with us
how MIT's Metro lab initiative can make a difference in influencing metropolitan thinking.
PROGRAM
9.00
Breakfast and Registration
9.15
Welcome Notes and Metro Lab Presentation
Prof. Bish Sanyal (Director, SPURS Program, DUSP, MIT)
Arch. Gabriel Lanfranchi (SPURS Fellow & Founder, MIT Metro Lab)
9.30
METRO at MIT
Speakers:
Prof. Albert Saiz (Center for Real Estate), Prof. John Fernandez (Urban Metabolism group),
Prof. Jinhua Zaho (Transit Lab), Dr. Thomas Chupein (The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab)
Moderator:
Planner Lily Baums Pollans, PhD candidate, DUSP (MIT Metro Lab)
11.00
METRO: a View from the Field
Speakers:
Arch. Eduardo Rojas (University of Pennsylvania); Arch. Pedro Ortiz (Senior Consultant, IGO);
Prof. Antonella Contin (Politecnico di Milano)
Moderator:
Planner David Lee Newsome, MCP student, DUSP (MIT Metro Lab)
12.00
METRO: an Institutional Perspective
Speakers:
Planner Victor Vergara (The World Bank), Dr. Francisca Rojas (Inter-American Development Bank),
Lic. Sebastian Fernandez (Infonavit, México)
Moderator:
Dr. Yu-Hung Hong, Director, Samuel Tak Lee Real Estate Entrepreneurship Lab, MIT
1.00
Lunch
2.00
WORKSHOP – Co-Creating the Metro Lab: Strategizing the Next Steps
Moderator:
Planner Ofer Lerner, SPURS Associate (MIT Metro Lab)