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Urban Planning
A new metric for designing safer streets
A new metric for designing safer streets
Penn researchers demonstrate how biometric data can help city planners more proactively design and evaluate the safety of urban infrastructure for bicyclists and pedestrians.
Americans face looming rent crisis
Americans face looming rent crisis
When the CDC’s eviction moratorium is lifted, 11 million Americans will face housing instability.
Urban planning and politics in Atlanta
Urban planning and politics in Atlanta
Akira Rodríguez’s new book, “Diverging Space for Deviants: The Politics of Atlanta’s Public Housing” explores how the intersection of race and public housing development planning in Atlanta created a politics of resistance.
How has COVID-19 changed ‘superstar cities’?
A new analysis found that overall mobility in large U.S. cities has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, and some are also experiencing changing segregation patterns, with potential implications that could last well beyond the pandemic.
Vincent Reina on fair housing in the U.S., in the city, and in pandemic times
Vincent Reina on fair housing in the U.S., in the city, and in pandemic times
The expert in fair housing and urban planning discusses how cities can address low-income housing policy, neighborhood change, and community and economic development, and how the pandemic has made inequities even more visible.
Working at the intersection of data science and public policy
Working at the intersection of data science and public policy
Ken Steif’s new book, “Public Policy Analytics: Code & Context for Data Science in Government,” available online and in print, provides guidance for how governments and policymakers can use data and algorithms to solve complex service-delivery problems.
How can cities become healthier, greener, and more equitable in the future?
How can cities become healthier, greener, and more equitable in the future?
In a year marked by COVID-19, renewed calls for racial justice, a contentious presidential election, and an active wildfire and hurricane season, Penn experts share what’s needed to make urban areas more resilient to future crises.
At the intersection of water, equity, and climate change
At the intersection of water, equity, and climate change
The Water Center at Penn is collaborating to help guide community decisions to build capacity in water infrastructure.
‘Perspectives on Fair Housing’ looks back on more than 50 years of landmark legislation
‘Perspectives on Fair Housing’ looks back on more than 50 years of landmark legislation
A new Penn Press book featuring experts from law, education, urban studies, and social policy presents fair housing as one of the foremost issues facing the U.S. today.
Housing initiative fuels cooperation between cities during pandemic
Housing initiative fuels cooperation between cities during pandemic
Vincent Reina and Amy Castro Baker are working with the U.S. cities, including Philadelphia, through the Housing Initiative at Penn to design a housing assistance plan both during the pandemic and after.
In the News
Philadelphia Inquirer
Philadelphia home repair grants linked to decreased neighborhood crime, Penn study finds
Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine, School of Arts & Sciences, and Stuart Weitzman School of Design found that the crime rate on a given block was reduced by nearly 22% when the city of Philadelphia funded repairs for even a single house. “The social fabric of a neighborhood is very connected to the physical environment,” said the medical school’s Eugenia South.
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Governing
Does the federal housing policy do enough to stop evictions?
Vincent Reina of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design discusses the reliance on the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) to solve all housing affordability problems. “We’re relying on LIHTC as our only housing production program to solve all our housing affordability problems and that’s a tall order for any program,” he says.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Testing how navigable SEPTA is, with glasses that see what riders see
Megan Ryerson of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design is leading an experiment that is using high-tech glasses to assess the navigability of Philadelphia’s public transit system. “I think of it as epidemiology for navigation,” she said.
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
Philly Council changes mixed-income housing bonus rules for Southwest Center City
Vincent Reina and grad student Camille Boggan of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design spoke about a recent amendment to a zoning bill that would exempt developers in the 19146 zip code, a rapidly gentrifying area, from the option to pay into Philadelphia’s Housing Trust Fund instead of offering affordable units in new buildings. “Removing money from the Housing Trust Fund is concerning,” said Boggan. “A lot of homeowners rely on that for home repairs.”
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People.com
‘Things have come undone’: At home with the millions of people who owe billions of dollars during COVID
Vincent Reina of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design spoke about the pandemic’s impact on renters in the U.S. “Households are showing extreme signs of economic distress both through rent owed, but also through other forms of debt that they've extended themselves,” he said.
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The New York Times
Use it or lose it: Tenant aid effort nears a federal cutoff
Vincent Reina of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design found that in some cities more than half of tenants did not qualify for rental assistance programs due to a lack of cooperation from their landlords. “We’ve consistently created programs where owners have ultimate veto power over whether a tenant can access the housing assistance that they’ve applied for and need,” he said.
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