Posted on January 2, 2025
In addition to learning urban economics theories and gaining tools for urban data analysis, Instructor Heejin Yoon wants his students to think about how their expertise contributes to their communities and society.
Yoon, a fifth-year Ph.D. student at the Department of Real Estate and Urban Land Economics, said a partnership between the City of Madison, Wisconsin School of Business, and UniverCity Alliance provides a unique opportunity for students to achieve this goal. Undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in Real Estate 420/720: Urban and Regional Economics studied Madison’s comprehensive and sustainability plans during the Fall 2024 semester and shared their findings with city leaders and staff on Dec. 11, 2024 at the Madison Municipal Building.

“By working on these projects, students can make meaningful contributions to real-world challenges beyond the classroom,” Yoon said. “Given the dynamic and fast-changing nature of our society, the fresh and innovative perspectives of our students are particularly important for tackling urban challenges.”
For the past four years, Professor Yongheng Deng, John P. Morgridge Distinguished Chair Professor in Business, has partnered with the City of Madison to provide a learning experience connected to sustainability with support from UniverCity Alliance (UCA). Deng is also a member of UCA’s advisory board. This year, Yoon served as a principal instructor to teach a section of the Real Estate 420 course.
Students researched how the city’s existing plans align with the growth, equity, and sustainability principles through the lens of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and showcased their results during the poster session.
Deng said the projects address vital issues of sustainable urban and neighborhood development, aligning with the SDGs. Because the projects are focused on the City of Madison, they also examine places where students study and live.
“They provide students with unique opportunities to create a tangible impact on people’s lives, extending their influence beyond the classroom and embodying the Wisconsin Idea,” Deng said.

Deputy Mayor for Housing and Sustainability Christie Baumel attends the poster session each year, describing it as a highlight and an opportunity for city staff to hear input from students.
“The nexus between sustainability, environmental issues, human health and well-being, environmental health and well-being, it is all so interconnected to our economy and our economic well-being,” Baumel said. “We don’t want to work in a vacuum … this is community input and what you’re telling us matters.”
During the semester, the students hear from city staff and gain insights into their city’s local government. City of Madison’s Performance Excellence Specialist Kara Kratowicz, also a member of UCA’s Advisory Board, and Sustainability and Resilience Manager Jessica Price joined the class to teach students about Imagine Madison and the 2024 Sustainability Plan.

Kratowicz said this partnership continues to bring “fresh energy and ideas to city staff.”
“Staff benefit by staying in touch with the perspectives that matter most to the generation that will come into our workforce next,” Kratowicz said. “Our continued investment between the university and the City of Madison will hopefully bring more people into the know of what local governments do for our communities and hopefully inspire some to pursue a career in public service.”
UniverCity aims to foster these two-way learning opportunities – students learning from city staff and local leaders connecting with students – on campus and across Wisconsin. UniverCity Alliance Managing Director Gavin Luter said community-based learning can enrich students’ academic experiences and benefit communities.
“When students apply what they’re learning in the classroom to city challenges, they recognize the impact of their academic work on a community,” Luter said. “This enhances the project and can result in helpful recommendations for the community partner.”
Yoon said the poster session provides a valuable learning experience for students who are business majors.
“Business school education often emphasizes shareholder and firm profit maximization, which I believe are very important, but it’s equally important to consider the needs of the society we’re living in,” Yoon said. “This project provided students with the opportunity to develop a well-rounded perspective, helping them grow not only as future business professionals but also as responsible citizens.”
A ‘different twist’
Students analyzed a range of topics – such as housing, transportation, waste and recycling, and pedestrian safety – for their final projects. They researched how these topics align with economic growth and opportunity, equity, sustainability, and inclusion principles.
The students also connected these to the SDGs, which offer a strategic framework that integrates economic, social, and environmental factors.
Focusing on Madison made the city “very real,” junior Lance McCoy said, and the work “very useful,” junior Erik Morgan said.
“When you’re able to apply the stuff you learn to a real life scenario where you are presenting to people who care about the topics, it makes it so much more impactful,” said Morgan, who is majoring in economics and environmental studies.
Morgan and McCoy, who is majoring in economics, worked with junior Nurina Syed Malek Faisal, who is studying economics and educational policy, to research how effectively Madison balances equality with economic growth.
“Madison was on point with a lot of the techniques that we studied in our educational policy class,” she said. “This class provided me an opportunity to see that Madison is doing something (about economy and opportunity).”

Holden Knapp talks to Christine Baumel. (Paul L. Newby, II /UW-Madison Wisconsin School of Business)
As students, they are also residents of Madison and have a unique experience of living in the city that they are researching. Brandon Dao, a junior studying finance real estate, said his group’s project on transportation is “very relatable.”
“We’re seeing real life data that affects us on a daily basis,” Dao said.
Dao, along with Daniel Bregenzer and Jacob Brooks, researched strategies to reduce pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries. They used the city’s Vision Zero and Complete Green Streets plan to inform their work.
Ultimately, they recommended removing fare on the new Bus Rapid Transit lines, focusing on streets in and around the Capitol, and implementing technology to capture data on vehicle and pedestrian traffic.
“The class gives us a good perspective because we can see what Madison is doing right now,” said Brooks, a sophomore studying finance and real estate, while also researching new ideas. “We could give them input and maybe put a different twist on it.”
—Abigail Becker