Edward L. Glaeser

American urban economist — Harvard — author of Triumph of the City — the leading academic advocate for urban density as the solution to housing costs, economic development, and environmental sustainability.

Creates the economics-based urban density argument — Glaeser's research (and Triumph of the City's popular presentation) shows that cities are humanity's greatest invention, that density produces innovation and economic growth, and that restrictive zoning is the primary cause of housing unaffordability.