The Harvard-MIT Joint Center for Urban Studies was formed in 1959 to address "intellectual and policy issues confronting a nation experiencing widespread demographic, economic and social change. Its research was based on the premise that the resolution of these issues called for imaginative interdisciplinary approaches to the study of urban problems and issues, and required cooperation among universities, government and industry."

Splitting from MIT in 1988, and affiliated with Harvard's Graduate School of Design and Kennedy School of Government, the Center consolidated the focus on housing that had emerged during the 1970s, and changed its name from "Urban Studies" to "Housing Studies."

In 1969, Robert C. Wood became director, replacing Daniel P. Moynihan.