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Which state policies are actually working?
Aerial view of city streets and traffic.

Image: Urbanscape via iStock

Which state policies are actually working?

Penn IUR faculty fellow John Landis analyzes 25 years of land use, transportation, energy, and water conservation efforts across the United States.

From Penn IUR

2 min. read

Former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter launches Penn initiative connecting past mayors with future leaders
former mayors with director of public service initiative

Michael A. Nutter (center), former Mayor of Philadelphia and managing director of the Public Service and Policy Initiative, with inaugural Impact Scholars Kasim Reed (left), former Mayor of Atlanta, and GT Bynum (right), former Mayor of Tulsa.

(Image: Kait Privitera)

Former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter launches Penn initiative connecting past mayors with future leaders

The first-of-its-kind Public Service and Policy Initiative brings accomplished local governing executives to Penn to translate experience into research, talent development, and policy innovation.

Michael Grant

5 min. read

Paving the way for safer roads
Drone shot of Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia’s Roosevelt Boulevard.

(Image: Julio Cortez via AP Images)

Paving the way for safer roads

An interdisciplinary team of Penn engineers and urban planners has taken an innovative approach to creating a drivable digital twin of Philadelphia’s Roosevelt Boulevard, a significant public health threat to the tens of thousands of people who use it each day.

2 min. read

Can AI help cities get a handle on urban heat?
Everett Clayton looks at a digital thermometer on a nearby building that reads 116 degrees while walking to his apartment on June 27, 2021 in Vancouver, Washington.

(Image: Nathan Howard via AP Images)

Can AI help cities get a handle on urban heat?

Weitzman’s Xiaojiang Li is using artificial intelligence tools to provide more granular information about urban environments in order to optimize solutions for mitigating extreme heat.

From the Weitzman School of Design

2 min. read

Conservation of Covenant: Maintaining a campus landmark
A side view of Covenant, newly restored with its bright red sheen on a sunny, clear day surrounded by trees.

Covenant restored to the vibrant red hue it had upon installment on campus in 1975.

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Conservation of Covenant: Maintaining a campus landmark

This summer, Penn’s largest piece of public art, Covenant, has undergone the final stretch of a two-part maintenance project that involved restoring its bright red surface.

2 min. read

When design meets engineering, students solve the right problems
Sarah Rottenberg lecturing.

For Sarah Rottenberg is the executive director of the Integrated Product Design Program at Penn Engineering and adjunct assistant professor at the Weitzman School of Design.

(Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering)

When design meets engineering, students solve the right problems

In Sarah Rottenberg’s studio course, engineering and design students are taught to rethink the earliest stage of design: understanding the problem itself.

Melissa Pappas

2 min. read

Soaking up the sun
Soaking up the sun

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Soaking up the sun

A roundup of stories from Penn Today on solar innovation and protection.

Penn Today Staff

2 min. read

Documenting architecture and memories of a changing neighborhood
"On Exactitude in Science (Watts)" showing on screen at the Barnes.

Image: Erica Moser

Documenting architecture and memories of a changing neighborhood

A film by Penn fine arts professor David Hartt about Watts, a historically Black neighborhood in Los Angeles, is one of five videos included in “Freedom Dreams,” an exhibition at the Barnes in Philadelphia that centers the “memories, dreams, and histories of Black Americans.”

3 min. read

Celebrating history and possibility on Market Street
The exterior of Meantime on Market on Philadelphia’s Market Street.

The site of Meantime on Market on the 900 block of Market Street.

(Image: Charlie Shuck for Meantime)

Celebrating history and possibility on Market Street

As Philadelphia celebrates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, one of the City’s founding streets is back in the spotlight.

From the Weitzman School of Design

2 min. read