5/19
Urban Planning
City planning students gain critical perspective on the carceral state
City planning students gain critical perspective on the carceral state
The Carceral State, a course offered through Penn’s Netter Center for Community Partnerships, explores the issue of mass incarceration in Pennsylvania.
The Clean Water Act at 50
The Clean Water Act at 50
Approaching the half-century mark of this landmark piece of environmental legislation, Penn students, staff, and faculty share their reflections on its legacy, both strengths and shortcomings.
Climate resilience, economic competitiveness, and equity at the megaregional level
Climate resilience, economic competitiveness, and equity at the megaregional level
In “Megaregions and America’s Future,” Emeritus Professor of Practice Robert Yaro and Dean Frederick Steiner discuss how megaregions in the U.S. can address complex challenges.
The next generation of leaders in urban planning
The next generation of leaders in urban planning
The Moelis Scholars Program supports students from diverse backgrounds in the Stuart Weitzman School of Design’s Master of City Planning program.
How a class of ‘brilliant graduates’ shaped modern Chinese architecture
How a class of ‘brilliant graduates’ shaped modern Chinese architecture
The ‘Building in China’ exhibition showcases the work of the ‘first generation’ of Penn architecture alumni from China and how striking a balance between modern and traditional continues to shape the country’s expression of its national identity.
Unlocking the potential of ‘smart’ water in responding to climate change
Unlocking the potential of ‘smart’ water in responding to climate change
Assistant Professor of City and Regional Planning Allison Lassiter researches unlocking the potential of ‘smart’ water in responding to climate change.
After the shutdown, what comes next for the former Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery?
After the shutdown, what comes next for the former Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery?
Creating a greener, more equitable future at the site means understanding its complex history, its long-running public health impacts, and working in partnership with communities.
Empowering community engagement through theory and practice
Empowering community engagement through theory and practice
This fall, students applied community participation and stakeholder involvement processes to conduct their own outreach activities on campus as part of Participatory Cities, a Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia Program course.
Public schools, COVID-19, and addressing education’s aging infrastructure
Public schools, COVID-19, and addressing education’s aging infrastructure
Urban planners and architects are working to address one of the many challenges faced by public schools by designing healthy and engaging outdoor educational spaces.
With OurPlan, Weitzman team pilots new data tool for neighborhood democracy
With OurPlan, Weitzman team pilots new data tool for neighborhood democracy
A team of Weitzman scholars designed OurPlan to give residents of West Philadelphia a voice in planning and preservation.
In the News
The Atlantic
The simplest fix to America’s rent problem
Vincent Reina of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design will be assessing the results of a rental assistance pilot program in Philadelphia that will distribute cash aid rather than vouchers. “There’s been some explorations, but a true, proper evaluation is something that we’ve never really done,” he said. “Cash transfers are often more contentious.”
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The New York Times
De Blasio vowed to make city streets safer. They’ve turned more deadly
Erick Guerra of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design said New York City’s traffic fatality rate, though on the rise, is still three to four times lower than the national average. “In some ways, Vision Zero is aspirational,” he said. “Even in cities that have success, you still see traffic fatalities.”
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The New York Times
Why $46 billion couldn’t prevent an eviction crisis
Vincent Reina of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design spoke about the challenges faced by officials, landlords, and tenants in distributing and accessing federal housing aid amid the pandemic. “We asked state and local governments to do something they’d never done before,” said Reina. “They had to design large programs with complex systems in real time, then modify them in real time—and at the same time, we’re expecting these programs to resolve longstanding problems in the housing market.”
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Vox.com
One way the US could have prevented the fight over the eviction moratorium
Vincent Reina of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design said the U.S. lacks a standardized system for contacting landlords, which complicates rent-relief programs. “There have been calls over time for some national effort around trying to create better national and local owner registry systems, and if there was ever a time this was clearly needed, it is now,” he said.
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Fast Company
This urban planner created a new metric to find a city’s most frightening intersections
Megan Ryerson of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design is using biometric data to identify dangerous zones for urban cyclists. The data “can be used to measure safety rather than waiting for someone to die,” she said.
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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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