WHAT:

“Re-Imagining Cities: Urban Design After the Age of Oil,” a two-day conference at the University of Pennsylvania, will examine cities of the future as envisioned by urban designers and leaders in both public and private sectors in the face of costly energy and global warming.

Those attending will address the need, around the world, for urban innovation at every level, from commuting alternatives to the way entire regions are developed in the future. These new approaches are crucial to ensuring that the world’s cities continue to thrive in a future without the abundant oil that has historically given rise to the most prosperous urban economies.

An accompanying international exhibition will reflect on the influence of the 1958 Rockefeller conference participants and feature innovative ideas and projects that challenge how cities are designed, built and inhabited.
WHO:

Sponsored by the Penn Institute for Urban Research and the Penn School of Design, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation, the conference of more than 300 international urban leaders, scholars and practitioners will explore methods of achieving a truly sustainable urban world.

Among the participants are experts in energy shortages and climate change Robert Socolow, Elizabeth Kolbert, David Orr, Adil Najam and William Rees, as well as leading practitioners of urban design Peter Head, Jonathan Barnett, Gary Hack and Marilyn Jordan Taylor, dean of PennDesign.

WHEN:

Nov. 6-8, 2008

WHERE:

Sessions: Houston Hall, 3417 Spruce St., Philadelphia
Exhibit: Lower Gallery in Meyerson Hall, 210 S. 34th St.

DETAILS:

Additional information is available at www.upenn.edu/penniur/afteroil/schedule