<p><span class="p-body"><b>NEW YORK, NY – July 16, 2025 </b>– Cities are facing a range of cascading challenges, including climate volatility, housing crises, social inequity, and fiscal stress. But within this complexity lies opportunity for innovation and progress.</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">Today, the <a href="/content/sps-nyu/about/academic-divisions-and-departments/schack-institute-of-real-estate.html"><b>NYU SPS Schack Institute of Real Estate</b></a> launched its Building Better Cities Collaborative (BBCC) leadership fellowship program to develop a new kind of urban trailblazer with the interdisciplinary skills necessary to navigate today’s complex built environment challenges, while creating opportunities and driving measurable change and results.</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">This program is designed for high-potential, mid-career professionals from across the built environment—design, development, policy, technology, and finance—who are ready to take the next step in their leadership development and focus on the future of cities. The BBCC is designed for success on three levels:</span></p> <ul class="p-list"> <li><span class="p-body"><b>Talent Accelerator:</b> Growing future leaders</span></li> <li><span class="p-body"><b>Collaborative R&amp;D Lab:</b> Advancing strategic experimentation</span></li> <li><span class="p-body"><b>Civic Catalyst:</b> Generating ideas for real-world impact</span></li> </ul> <p><span class="p-body">“Our Building Better Cities Collaborative fills a critical gap and directly addresses the evolving needs of the urban built environment,” said <b>Marc Norman, Larry &amp; Klara Silverstein Chair in Real Estate Development and Investment and associate dean at NYU SPS Schack Institute, and co-founder of the Collaborative.</b> “The cross-disciplinary collaboration enabled by NYU and the NYU SPS Schack Institute, and key industry partners, makes this a unique launchpad for the next-generation of urban leaders and the future livability, prosperity, and sustainability of our cities.”</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">“The NYU Schack Building Better Cities Collaborative fellowship program represents NYU SPS’s commitment to hands-on, career-connected applied learning experiences. With this program, we are not just educating tomorrow’s leaders; we are actively shaping a new kind of urban changemaker,” said <b>Angie Kamath, the Harvey J. Stedman Dean of NYU SPS.</b> “This program underscores our dedication to adding real value to the industries we service by preparing professionals who are ready to make an immediate and significant impact.”</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">According to <b>Will Hunter, executive editor of <i>Vertical Urbanism</i>, Executive in Residence at the NYU SPS Schack Institute, and co-founder of the Collaborative,</b> research by Geoffrey West, a theoretical physicist and one of the leading scientists working on cities and urban scaling, shows that as cities grow, their resource demand rises exponentially, but so does their capacity for innovation. “For that work to happen, we need systems that turn complexity into creativity. This NYU SPS collaborative aims to turn complexity into creative ideas and opportunities by connecting the brightest emerging talent to pioneer real-world innovations for the urban built environment,” added Hunter.</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">The application process for the inaugural BBCC fellowship cohort is open for a Fall 2025, with the full program launching in Spring 2026. For program and application details, please visit the official <a href="/content/sps-nyu/about/academic-divisions-and-departments/schack-institute-of-real-estate/building-better-cities-collaborative.html"><b><i>Building Better Cities Collaborative</i></b></a> website.</span></p> <p><span class="p-body"><b>About the NYU SPS Schack Institute of Real Estate:<br> </b>The Institute’s graduate degree programs—notably the <a href="/content/sps-nyu/explore/degrees-and-programs/ms-in-real-estate.html"><b>MS in Real Estate</b></a>, the <a href="/content/sps-nyu/explore/degrees-and-programs/ms-in-real-estate-development.html"><b>MS in Real Estate Development</b></a> and <a href="/content/sps-nyu/explore/degrees-and-programs/bs-in-real-estate.html"><b>Bachelors of Science in Real Estate</b></a>, which currently have more than 800 full and part-time students from across the United States and nearly 50 countries. In addition to its flagship degree programs, thousands of working professionals enroll each year in the Schack Institute’s executive education, certificate, and career advancement programs.</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">An anchor of real estate academia’s engagement with industry, the Institute is home to the <a href="/content/sps-nyu/about/academic-divisions-and-departments/schack-institute-of-real-estate/the-reit-center.html"><b>REIT Center</b></a>, the <a href="/content/sps-nyu/about/academic-divisions-and-departments/schack-institute-of-real-estate/center-for-sustainable-built-environment.html"><b>Center for the Sustainable Built Environment</b></a>, the CREFC Center for Real Estate Finance, and the Urban Lab. In addition to the REIT Symposium, the Institute hosts many other national industry events, including annual conferences on real estate capital markets and its Women in Real Estate Symposium. Under the direction of Schack’s industry-experienced faculty, ongoing applied research at the Institute spans an exceptional range of issues in real estate development and investment, urban economics, and market structure and regulation.</span></p> <p><span class="p-body"><b>About the NYU School of Professional Studies<br> </b>Established in 1934, NYU SPS is an internationally recognized university that offers diverse students access and opportunity to practical, real-world preparation to thrive in their careers while building the next generation of industry leaders ready to embrace tomorrow’s innovations and challenges and lead change in global workplaces.</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">The NYU SPS global community is made up of industry professionals, doers, and trailblazers shaping the future of industries, positioning the School as an idea incubator center for various fields, including real estate, hospitality, global affairs, sports business, integrated marketing, HR, professional writing, and more.</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">Today, NYU SPS offers one of the most diverse portfolios of educational offerings at NYU, including graduate degrees, bachelor’s degrees for traditional and degree completion students, associate degrees, continuing education courses, and certificate programs.</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">NYU SPS hosts some of the largest and most in-demand industry conferences in the world, including the Schack Institute of Real Estate’s Capital Markets Conference, REIT Symposium, and National Symposium of Women in Real Estate; the Jonathan M. Tisch Center’s International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference; the Annual NYU Tax Conferences; and the NYU Coaching and Technology Summit. The School’s invaluable connections to industry leaders are a distinguishing factor in the education it provides.</span></p>