Nine To Noon Urban planner Alain Bertaud on what makes cities work
Mar 15, 2026
Alain Bertaud, urban planner and NYU researcher who wrote Order Without Design, shares ideas from five decades shaping cities worldwide. He talks about cities as labour markets, the link between transport and housing affordability, trade-offs between densification and greenfield growth, and how planning and financing shape what gets built.
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Paris And Manhattan Lost Central Population As Wealth Rose
- As incomes rose and mechanized transport spread, central populations in Paris and Manhattan fell despite overall urban growth.
- Bertaud notes both had about one million fewer people than in 1900 as families expanded living space.
Cap Commutes To Protect Labour Market Unity
- Limit peak commute times to preserve a unified labour market; use one hour one-way as an absolute maximum and aim for about 30 minutes ideal.
- Bad transport fragments large cities (example: Mexico City’s productivity suffers because poor transport limits suburb-to-center access).
Governments Must Define And Protect Public Land
- Governments must clearly separate public from private land and protect public goods like mountains and beach access.
- Bertaud frames this as a surveyor’s responsibility to reserve public rights-of-way and natural amenities from privatization.
