Cities are always changing: streets, infrastructure, public spaces, and buildings are constantly being built, improved, demolished, and replaced. But even when a new project is designed to improve a community, neighborhood residents often find themselves at odds with the real estate developer...

Based on interviews in Portland, Chicago, Miami, and Minneapolis/Saint Paul, How Real Estate Developers Think depicts the entrepreneurial personality of the developer, explores the meaning of "good design," and examines the economic risks and rewards of development.