Urban Planning

The I-95 bridge collapse is causing traffic headaches, but don’t expect Carmageddon

Erick Guerra of the Weitzman School of Design says that most people will adjust quickly to new commute patterns detouring I-95, which will free up the blockage.

A group of people in a small urban park in West Philadelphia.

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.

New station renderings: Building a cost-effective subway on Roosevelt Boulevard

In an Op-Ed, Weitzman School of Design doctoral candidate Jay Arzu discusses a new design for streamlined, cost-effective stations that would alleviate financial concerns surrounding the long-delayed Roosevelt Boulevard Subway in Philadelphia.

Cleaner streets are key to Philly’s success

Two studies by the Urban Health Lab at Penn found that gun violence dropped significantly in neighborhoods where vacant parcels were turned into regularly maintained green spaces.

Your financial accounts are safe, experts say. Here’s what protects them

Lisa Servon of the Weitzman School of Design says that people are experiencing a new level of financial precarity, with very little savings or security in terms of jobs and benefits as well as higher costs for housing, higher education, and child care.

‘We deserve much better’: Critics oppose Philly’s plan for evaluating Sixers arena proposal

At a Philadelphia City Hall panel, Domenic Vitiello of the Weitzman School of Design decried the level of seriousness for impact studies requested by the city to evaluate the impact of a Sixers arena in Chinatown.

‘The more trees, the merrier’: Philly’s commercial corridors are blooming with greenery thanks to 117 new trees

Penn Medicine’s Urban Health Lab is providing funding support to engage Philadelphia residents around potentially planting trees along Woodland Avenue.

Want to tackle gun violence? Think about trees

Research by Eugenia C. South of the Perelman School of Medicine, John MacDonald of the School of Arts & Sciences, and Vincent Reina of the Weitzman School of Design shows that fixing up dilapidated homes in low-income Philadelphia neighborhoods is an effective way to prevent shootings.

Climate change could threaten Philly’s drinking water

Allison Lassiter of the Weitzman School of Design discusses the options for protecting Philadelphia drinking water if rising seas and drought threaten sections of the Delaware River.

Roosevelt Boulevard subway station gains support from mayoral candidates and Harrisburg

Ph.D. student Jay Arzu in the Weitzman School of Design and a group of activists have reproposed a Roosevelt Boulevard subway, citing safety and accessibility.

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