The shrinking cities movement shined a light on the potential of ad-hoc reuse and programming some time ago but so too has groups like the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society
Urban Design

Fleeting Design
Changing Behavior With Fun
Reinventing Raleigh

Ow! That hurt! Or: The Start of Planning School, Year Two
Forgive me Olmsted, for I have sinned. I have strayed. I have coveted. I have had doubts.
I have thought about kicking urban design to the curb like a mangy puppy.
Toronto Planner Appointed to UK Commission on Architecture
Planning City Love
The Future of Francisville

Design our industrial future
In times past, industrial use was often a form of pride. Many of the hulking, multi-story industrial buildings in older cities are (still) beautiful additions to our cityscapes. In some cities, those that went vacant have spawned a new form of urban scavenge hunting by those seeking to fuel their appreciation for our industrial past through photography and exploration. Think as well of the WPA posters, many of which used stylized industrial themes to promote our “American” identity.
Public Space Starting Small On Philadelphia's Waterfront
Gateway to Long Island City
Suburbs 2.0
Observe, Transform, Model, Interpret
Quirky Bus Stops Across the World
The Evolving Field of Urban Design

Drawing Blanks: Urban Design and the Power of the Pen
With just two weeks to go in my second semester, I like to think that I know just about everything about being a planning student by now. But when 100+ prospective students came to our campus open house last week, an easy question stumped me:
“What about drawing?”
At first I thought she was asking if she needed to have an art background coming into school. A thousand times, no. But instead she was looking to learn how to draw as a planner, which is a much trickier proposition.

When The Planners Go Marching In
There’s just one problem with academia. Sometimes it can be so … academic.
In the interest of getting out into the world, I’m writing this post from Nawlins (nee New Orleans), where 16 other Penn planners and I are spending our weeklong spring break doffing our tops for beads and booze doing pro bono city planning work. For most of us, it’s been nothing short of a paradigm shift—and the week ain’t over yet.




















