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Urban Planning

If restaurants go, what happens to cities?
The New York Times

If restaurants go, what happens to cities?

A study by Jessie Handbury of the Wharton School documented how younger and more educated segments of the population began moving back into the downtowns of large U.S. cities from the suburbs. “A distinct and persistent feature in downtowns is their high density of restaurants,” she said. “It’s the feature that attracts people to downtowns—especially the young and college educated.”

‘Perspectives on Fair Housing’ looks back on more than 50 years of landmark legislation
decent housing was just one among many rights that activists were demanding As written on signs during the Civil Rights March on Washington in 1963, decent housing was just one among many rights that activists were demanding. (Image: Courtesy Warren K. Leffler, U.S. News & World Report Magazine Photograph Collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.)

‘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.

Kristina García

Housing initiative fuels cooperation between cities during pandemic
Philadelphia aerial cityscape

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.

From the Weitzman School of Design

Safely reengaging with nightlife and supporting the creative economy
two people in a boat traveling past the philadelphia skyline at night

Safely reengaging with nightlife and supporting the creative economy

PennPraxis researchers are collaborating on the Global Nighttime Recovery Plan, which provides best practices, real-world examples, and frameworks for safe and inclusive nightlife.

Erica K. Brockmeier

A conversation about ‘Akon City’ and speculative urbanization
A virtual cityscape of the future.

A virtual cityscape of the future (Not an actual rendering of Akon City)

A conversation about ‘Akon City’ and speculative urbanization

Christopher Marcinkoski of the Weitzman School of Design unpacks—through the lens of speculative urbanization—the self-described ‘futuristic’ city to be built in Senegal, led by musician and philanthropist Akon.
Improving the quality of life in cities
compiled head shots of five gordon fellows, from top left clockwise Carson Eckhard, Nick Zhu, Sarah Jones, Melina Lawrence, and Anna Duan

Improving the quality of life in cities

The Gordon Fellowship program, currently in its second year, provides urban studies students with an opportunity to find summer internships that connect theory with practice.

Erica K. Brockmeier

Philly’s housing insecurity crisis needs long-term solutions
Philadelphia Inquirer

Philly’s housing insecurity crisis needs long-term solutions

Claudia Aiken, Sydney Goldstein, and Vincent Reina of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design wrote an op-ed about Philadelphia’s housing crisis. “Unaffordable rents, a tsunami of layoffs largely in the service industries where many low-income renters were employed, and the vanishing housing safety net created a perfect storm in which low-income, and particularly Black, renters have nowhere to turn,” they said.

Design travels to South Carolina to plan more protective urban coastlines
Aerial view of a South Carolina coastal municipality map diagramed for design purposes

Aerial view of Imagine the Wall, Charleston, a proposal for the South Carolina coastal city. (Image: Weitzman School)

Design travels to South Carolina to plan more protective urban coastlines

A Weitzman School team is working with the city of Charleston on an urban seawall plan that combines natural elements with structural systems that respond to the local conditions of the city’s shoreline.

From the Weitzman School of Design

PennPraxis Design Fellows take on the real world with design solutions
Person standing in front of a group of people seated around tables presenting talking points on paper.

Matt Miller, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of City and Regional Planning, working on an engagement strategy for The Park at Penn’s Landing. (Pre-pandemic image: PennPraxis)

PennPraxis Design Fellows take on the real world with design solutions

PennPraxis has expanded the scope of experience for graduate students since its founding in 2001, and now 80 Design Fellows are involved in ambitious interdisciplinary design projects.

From the Weitzman School of Design