Vincent Reina

• Benjamin Keys and Vincent Reina Improving Housing Affordability. Abstract

  US households face unprecedented challenges related to the high cost of housing.
  In this paper, we characterize the affordability crisis, assess the primary drivers of
  unaffordable housing, and offer potential policy solutions. We argue that several
  distinct housing-market challenges—including financing gaps, local restrictions
  that make it difficult and/or costly to build, and a lack of an entitlement program—
  present distinct challenges to both an adequate and an affordable housing supply.
  Importantly, though, the impact of these features becomes more dramatic during
  economic downturns. Our current national housing challenges are a product of
  longstanding structural challenges that were amplified by an unprecedented lack
  of building after the 2008 financial crisis. As a result, the policy recommendations
  sit within a broader series of reforms and policy solutions that ensure that housing
  supply meets demand, and that affordability is not compromised, during all periods
  of the economic cycle.

• Benjamin Keys, Robert Collinson, Anthony DeFusco, John Eric Humphries, Vincent Reina, David C. Phillips, Patrick S. Turner, Winnie van Dijk (Working), The Effects of Emergency Rental Assistance During the Pandemic: Evidence from Four Cities. Abstract

  Short-term rental assistance expanded to unprecedented scale during the COVID-19 pandemic. We evaluate five programs distributing over $200 million through lottery, using administrative and survey data to assess effects on rent payment, housing stability, financial distress, and health. Assistance led to increases in rent payment and reduced concerns about eviction, with suggestive improvements in self-reported mental and physical health. In contrast with pre-pandemic emergency rental assistance, we find little effect on housing stability or financial distress. Explanations for these muted effects include: eviction moratoria weakening the link between rent and displacement, expanded safety net programs, and market softening favoring tenants.

Past Courses

• CPLN5010 - Quant Plng Analysis Meth

  This course teaches data analysis skills for local and neighborhood planning, including using Census to portray, analyze, and compare characteristics of areas, developing population and economic forecasts, and identifying economic multipliers and drivers of change. It focuses on using spreadsheet models and basic statistical analysis.

• CPLN5020 - Urban Economics and Public Fin

  This core course first covers the basic concepts of urban economics: central place theory, gravity models, agglomeration economies, bid rent curves, and regional settlement patterns. The course takes the theory and applies it to metropolitan outcomes: central business districts, edge cities, edgeless cities, the favored suburban quarter, and megaregions. And the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The second half of the course connects the community facilities section and the future land use map of the comprehensive plan with a city's capital improvements program to focus on how to pay for public infrastructure. Financing techniques include: bonds, pay-as-you-go, user fees, tax increment financing, impact fees, adequate public facilities ordinances, sales taxes, property taxes, and land value taxation. Cost-benefit analysis and other infrastructure finance practices are discussed. Applications of public finance include: (a) Financing affordable housing projects; (b) Financing economic development and redevelopment projects; (c) Financing transportation projects; (d) Structuring public-private partnership deals; (e) Financing environmental and green infrastructure projects; and (f) Issues in school finance.

• CPLN5400 - Intro To Property Devel

  This course is designed to acquaint students with the fundamental skills and techniques of real estate property development. It is designed as a first course for anyone interested in how to be a developer, and as a foundation for further courses in urban development and real estate.

• CPLN6200 - Technqs of Urb Econ Dev

  This course is an introduction to the theory and practice of economic development planning. We will explore theories of economic growth and development as well as explore pressing questions regarding income and wealth inequality and labor markets. Economic development practice in the US is the result of decades of work from local and state governments and hybrid entities (community development institutions, hospitals, redevelopment authorities, commerce departments) attempting to make their respective places more “sticky” with respect to economic activity. While economic development may seem secondary, or worse, actively harmful in addressing some of the many pressing problems facing planners today, this course is designed to highlight why economic development remains central to questions about how regions can and should grow. The economic organization of our regions is a central actor in debates concerning global warming, displacement through gentrification or decline and social inequality.

• CPLN6440 - Housing Policy

  The government intervenes in housing markets in different ways and for different reasons. This course is designed to explore why the federal and local government in the U.S. intervene in housing markets and what forms these interventions take. Specifically, students will learn about: the mechanisms that drive both the supply and demand for housing; how U.S. housing policy has changed over time; factors that affect the production, distribution, and location of housing; the social and economic impact of housing on households and neighborhoods; the equity implications of housing policies. This course will place particular emphasis on low-income rental housing. By the end of this class students will have a firm understanding of U.S. housing policy and be able to engage in a meaningful debate about future challenges and opportunities in the U.S. housing market and the implications of different policy interventions. Ultimately, this course will provide students the conceptual tools necessary to evaluate, formulate, and implement housing policy.

• CPLN7040 - Planning Studio

  Intensive study of a selected planning topic. Teams of students work with clients to develop alternative scenarios and produce plan and implementation strategies. Multiple presentations required.

Knowledge @ Wharton

• Does Your Insurance Protect You From Climate Risk?, Knowledge @ Wharton - 05/19/2026
• Should AI Nudge You or Tell You What to Do?, Knowledge @ Wharton - 05/19/2026
• How Rwanda Is Using Drones to Improve Health Care, Knowledge @ Wharton - 05/19/2026
• AI’s Real Impact on Jobs and Productivity, Knowledge @ Wharton - 05/15/2026
• Career Growth, Job Mobility, and the Modern Workforce, Knowledge @ Wharton - 05/13/2026
• How Advanced Analytics Are Changing Professional Hockey, Knowledge @ Wharton - 05/13/2026
• AI’s Supply Chain Problem, Knowledge @ Wharton - 05/12/2026
• Lasting Loyalty: Why ‘Unreasonable Hospitality’ Wins, Knowledge @ Wharton - 05/12/2026
• Why Leadership Changes Often Backfire, Knowledge @ Wharton - 05/12/2026
• Rethinking Urban Tax Policy Through Land Value Taxation, Knowledge @ Wharton - 05/08/2026