Urban Planning | Penn Today

How Tim Scott and Elizabeth Warren agreed on a sweeping housing package

Vincent Reina of the Weitzman School of Design says that a new bipartisan bill broadly defines housing supply while referencing manufactured housing, market rate, and the rules around production.

Despite SEPTA’s budget cliff, Roosevelt Boulevard subway backers seek path to Northeast Philly extension

Jay Arzu, a Ph.D. candidate in the Weitzman School of Design, says that SEPTA’s current financial problems should not keep it from long-range planning.

Texas floods were not just natural disasters. They were policy failures

In an opinion essay, Dean Frederick Steiner of the Weitzman School of Design outlines five major reasons why recent Texas floods were largely predictable and preventable.

Exploring China’s rural landscapes up close

Now in its second year, the Weitzman School’s SEU-Penn Exchange Program partnered with Southeast University in Nanjing, China to examine the future of rural villages and their relationships to the cities through an immersive exchange program and symposium on the theme of “Innovative Rural-scape.”

Lynn Meskell elected Fellow to the British Academy

The honor recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding contributions to the humanities and social sciences.

3 min. read

Can Americans just stop building new highways?

In his new book, “Overbuilt,” Erick Guerra of the Weitzman School of Design argues that the interstate U.S. highway system sacrificed urban wealth and quality of life, particularly in low-income neighborhoods.

Philadelphia deserves transit investment, not just survival

Ph.D. student Jay Arzu in the Weitzman School of Design pens an opinion piece on SEPTA and Philadelphia.

Weitzman team selected for Special Recognition in the Los Angeles Small Lots, Big Impacts Design Competition

FORMA (led by associate professor of practice Daniel Markiewicz and Miroslava Brooks) and Studio Zimm (led by Weitzman alum Michael Zimmerman) teamed up to design a project for the Los Angeles Small Lots, Big Impacts design competition, and received Special Recognition for their work on both sites within the Gentle Density category.

The gardens are coming to life at the future Calder Gardens

James Corner of the Weitzman School of Design discusses the artistry of landscape designer Piet Oudolf.

Professor of practice Leslie Richards on innovative transit and city planning

Once described as a “battleship turner” by Philadelphia Magazine, Weitzman professor of practice Leslie Richards served as secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and subsequently led the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), where she oversaw a $2 billion budget and a network that connects over five million residents in Greater Philadelphia. Having earned a master of regional planning degree from Penn in 1993, she was the first planner and

2 min. read

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