Matthew Lister is a creative urban place-maker, real estate development strategist and designer. As managing director of Gehl Studio New York, he focuses on the intersection of real estate strategy and the design and activation of public spaces.

Approaching project development and implementation holistically, Matthew understands that creating or enhancing urban places requires the integration of creative programming and design, policy, management, market strategies, financial feasibility, stakeholder capacity and buy-in, and the power of a compelling project narrative. He believes that collaborative, multidisciplinary teams, when engaged with an empowered stakeholder set, generate the best ideas and solutions with the most opportunity for implementation and success. Often working at multiple scales with both private and public clients, he works to develop aspirational yet economically sustainable and implementable solutions. He also brings an expertise in collaborative engagement with diverse communities in the urban change and development process.

Matthew has a master’s degree in real estate development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as a master’s in architecture and master’s in suburb and town design from the University of Miami School of Architecture. He holds a bachelor’s degree in humanities from the University of Colorado.

Matthew has taught graduate level urban redevelopment planning at Pratt Institute in New York City and has taught both undergraduate and graduate level classes at the University of Miami School of Architecture.

Q&A

What do you do for fun?
I enjoy improvisational comedy, and cooking overly ambitious, moderately successful meals for my family and friends in a seriously undersized New York City kitchen.