HUF 2024 - International Forum on
Housing & Urban Finance

Edward Glaeser is the Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics and the Chairman of the Department of Economics at Harvard University, where he has taught microeconomic theory, and occasionally urban and public economics, since 1992. He has served as Director of the Taubman Center for State and Local Government, and Director of the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston. He has published dozens of papers on cities economic growth, law, and economics. In particular, his work has focused on the determinants of city growth and the role of cities as centers of idea transmission. He received his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1992. His books include Cities, Agglomeration, and Spatial Equilibrium (Oxford University Press, 2008), Rethinking Federal Housing Policy (American Enterprise Institute Press, 2008), Triumph of the City (Penguin Press, 2011), and Survival of the City: Mass Flourishing in an Age of Social Isolation (Penguin Press, forthcoming in Fall 2021).

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Ben Winter serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Policy Development (OPD) within the Office of Policy Development and Research at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). OPD is charged with determining the policy relevance of HUD’s research, engaging in policy analysis, analyzing legislative proposals and initiatives, disseminating policy and research findings, and managing the Department’s International and Philanthropic engagements. Mr. Winter first joined HUD in 2009 as a Senior Analyst and Policy Advisor for OPD. Prior to rejoining HUD as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for OPD, he led the California Community Foundation’s (CCF) housing and economic opportunity efforts in Los Angeles, helping to strengthen low-income communities, solve homelessness, and grow the region’s supply of housing in an equitable, just, and sustainable way. Before joining CCF, Mr. Winter was the Chief Housing Officer for the city of Los Angeles under Mayor Eric Garcetti. He led a variety of local efforts to accelerate the development of affordable and permanent supportive housing, implement equitable land-use reforms, and administer the funding for community development and housing initiatives. Mr. Winter received a Master of Urban Planning from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service and was a fellow at NYU’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. He also received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, specializing in Spanish literature, international relations, and global cultures.

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Prof CHEONG Koon Hean is currently Chairman of the Centre for Liveable Cities (Ministry of National Development) as well as a Practice Professor and Chairman of the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities (Singapore University of Technology and Design). She was formerly the CEO of the Housing and Development Board from 2010 to 2020, overseeing some 1 million public housing flats and introduced a new generation of well designed, community centric, sustainable and smart public housing. Prof Cheong was also CEO of Urban Redevelopment Authority from 2004 to 2010 and concurrently the Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of National Development from 2001 to 2016, with extensive experience in land use planning, conservation of built heritage, the real estate market, public housing, governance and policy. She played a key role in major urban transformations such as Singapore’s new city extension Marina Bay and the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco City.

She has served on numerous advisory panels including the World Economic Forum Council and is currently on the Asia Sustainable Infrastructure Advisory Panel. She is a board trustee of the National University of Singapore, former Deputy President and current Council member of the International Federation for Housing & Planning, Chairman of the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize’s Nominating Committee, a Fellow(Life) and Honorary Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Architects and Institute of Planners respectively. She was formerly on the boards of the Urban Redevelopment Authority, Housing & Development Board, Jurong Town Corporation, Jurong Port, National Heritage Board, Civil Service College and a global trustee of the Urban Land Institute.

Prof Cheong has been conferred numerous awards, notably the Meritorious Service Medal for outstanding public service and is the first Asian to receive both the 2016 Urban Land Institute’s Prize for Urban Visionaries and the Lynn S Beedle Lifetime Achievement Award by the Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. She is a Colombo Plan Scholar with degrees in Architecture (Hon 1, University Gold Medal), a Doctor of Architecture Honoris Causa (University of Newcastle), Masters degree in Urban Development Planning (University College London), and has completed the Advanced Management Programme (Harvard University). 

Jin-Yoo Kim is a Professor in the Department of Urban Planning and Transportation Engineering at Kyonggi University in Korea. He earned his Ph.D. degree in Urban Planning from the Hanyang University, Korea, with undergraduate and Master’s degrees from the same university. Prior to joining Kyonggi University, he was a Research Associate in the Housing and Urban Research Institute at Korea Land and Housing Corporation.

Kim has published a number of peer-reviewed articles, primarily on the topics of housing and urban economics, urban planning, real estate development, and transportation investment. His work has been published in Habitat International, Urban Policy and Research, International Journal of Urban Science, Asian Pacific Planning Review, Journal of Korea Planners Association, Housing Studies Review, Journal of the Korea Real Estate Analysts Association, and Korea Real Estate Review.

He also has presented many papers at the international conference hosted by Asian Real Estate Society, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, City Planning Institute of Japan, Taiwan Institute of Urban Planning, Inter-University Seminar on Asian Megacities.

He had been supported by Mid-career Researcher Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea from September 2011 to August 2014. Kim has won two research awards, and received the University’s best teacher award in 2011. 

Dr. Young Do Kim is a Senior Research Fellow of the KIF, which he joined in 2007. He is currently a director of the Bank & Insurance Research Division Ⅰ of the KIF and had served as a Senior Advisor for the Chairman of Financial Service Commission (FSC).

He studies and examines various economic and institutional issues relating to banking and capital markets as well as the financial industry. He also participated in several task forces led by both public and private sectors and was involved in several governmental and private research projects.

He received his MA and PhD in Economics in 2007 from University of California, San Diego (UCSD). He also earned an MA in Finance and a BA summa cum laude in economics from Korea University, Seoul. 

Joseph Ooi is Professor of Real Estate at the National University of Singapore (NUS), where he is director of the Executive Certificate in Real Estate Finance. He is the current President of the International Real Estate Society, which is a federation of six regional academic societies. He also sat on the executive committee of Urban Land Institute (ULI) Singapore. Joseph’s research interests are in the areas of real estate investment trusts (REITs) and price dynamics in the urban land and housing markets. His research has been published in top real estate journals and won numerous best paper awards and international accolades. He is recipient of the NUS Young Researcher Award and the NUS Outstanding Educator Award.

Joseph earned his B.Sc. in Estate Management and M.Sc. in Real Estate from NUS and a PhD in Real Estate Finance from the University of Manchester (formerly UMIST).