Penn Institute for Urban Research

As global warming continues to intensify, ecologically sensitive urban places are particularly prone to its consequences.As global warming continues to intensify, ecologically sensitive urban places are particularly prone to its consequences. Focusing on the world-renowned Galapagos Islands, a place experiencing meteoric growth in land- and sea-based tourism (up from 18,000 in 1980 to 271,000 in 2019) as an example, the speakers, a student/professor team engaged in Penn IUR’s Galapagos Goes Green Project, will underscore their efforts to increase public awareness about the conflict between local desires to maximize visitors and resulting induced negative effects (e.g., uncontrolled urban growth, increased use

Penn IUR and the Ian L. McHarg Center invite you to a book talk and panel discussion on Post Industrial DIY: Recovering American Belt Icons.A pioneering Detroit automobile factory. A legendary iron mill at the edge of Pittsburgh. A campus of concrete grain elevators in Buffalo. Two monumental train stations, one in Buffalo, the other in Detroit. These once-noble sites have since fallen from their towering grace. As local elected leaders did everything they could to destroy what was left of these places, citizens saw beauty and utility in these industrial ruins and felt compelled to act.The Penn Institute for

Join Penn IUR for a conversation exploring efforts to introduce renewable energy to informal settlements in Accra, Ghana.On Wednesday March 13th at 9:00am, join the Penn Institute for Urban Research for a conversation exploring efforts to introduce renewable energy to informal settlements in Accra, Ghana. Presented by Penn IUR Fellow James Kwame Mensah in conversation with Penn IUR Co-Director Eugénie Birch, this event builds on the new policy digest published by the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy.Ghana’s electrical system is not only highly reliant on fossil fuels (66 percent of the total) but also does not meet demand due to

Join Penn IUR for a panel discussing the World Bank paper, Vibrant Cities - On the Bedrock of Stability, Prosperity, and Sustainability.How will the world’s developing cities become vibrant—capable of meeting the climate, social, and economic challenges of tomorrow? Vibrant cities offer firms and households high expectations for good returns on investments, for a sustainable and resilient future, and for dynamic and inclusive growth. Cities thrive not only by increasing incomes and wealth for a select few but by improving common welfare through the equitable provision of basic services and opportunities. To do this, tomorrow’s vibrant cities will be: resilient

Join the Penn IUR and Penn Press in welcoming Enrique Peñalosa Londoño, former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, to campus on January 23 .“An advanced city is not one where the poor own a car,” writes Enrique Peñalosa “but one where the rich use public transport.” Former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, Penalosa sees city design as projects that define human happiness, dignity, and equality. He worked to achieve that goal during his two terms (1998-2001 and 2016-2019) when he implemented the Transmilenio bike system and the city’s mass transit and bus rapid transit (BRT) systems, along with several other infrastructure projects

The book explores how outdated policies, flawed funding systems, and misguided metrics led to the overbuilding of the U.S. roadway networkJoin the Department of City & Regional Planning and the Penn Institute for Urban Research for this talk on Professor Erick Guerra's new book, Overbuilt. The book explores how outdated policies, flawed funding systems, and misguided metrics led to the overbuilding of the U.S. roadway network. Guerra examines the lasting consequences of this overbuilding and outlines how policymakers can "unbuild" to create a more sustainable and effective transportation future.About the BookOf the approximately inflation-adjusted $2.5 trillion spent on highways from