Urban Planning

Design and build, but first, collaborate

The Weitzman School’s spring design-build studio was a collaboration between students, community leaders, and residents to develop a key site as a visible distillation of the New Freedom District in West Philadelphia.

From the Weitzman School of Design

Pandemic bike-share boom crossed socioeconomic lines

A new Weitzman study reports an increase in trip duration for all bike-share users across Philadelphia, challenging the assumption that low-income populations are less likely to use such services.

Marilyn Perkins



In the News


Philadelphia Inquirer

The Biden administration is trying to make it easier to convert offices to apartments post-pandemic

In a Q&A, Vincent Reina of the Weitzman School of Design discusses a new White House initiative to incentivize commercial-to-residential conversion projects, especially as the office market continues to struggle.

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CBS Philadelphia

Philadelphia City Council revives proposal for Roosevelt Boulevard subway

Doctoral student Jay Arzu of the Weitzman School of Design has spearheaded the revival of a Roosevelt Boulevard subway leading to Northeast Philadelphia.

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The Hill

What does the transition to EVs mean for workers?

Sanya Carley of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design doesn’t see evidence that electric vehicles are job-killers at this point.

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Wired

Big batteries are booming. So are fears they’ll catch fire

Sanya Carley of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design says that people will fixate on even rare battery fires and explosions, connecting them to new infrastructure proposed in their community.

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Associated Press

Millions struggle to pay AC bills in heat waves. Federal aid reaches only a fraction

Sanya Carley of the Weitzman School of Design says that in extreme—though not rare—circumstances, the risk of power being disconnected during the hottest summer months is death.

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Marketplace (NPR)

Why are China and India still burning so much coal?

Sanya Carley of the Weitzman School of Design says that countries like China and India rely on coal as they industrialize because it’s usually cheap and available.

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