Open Streets Film Screening and Panel Discussion

The pope’s visit to Philadelphia was a historic occasion. Not only was this only the second time that an acting Pope visited our city, but the security requirements that came along with his visit inadvertently created an enormous unintended Open Streets event in Center City. Philadelphia’s residents were able to experience a car-free environment for the weekend. Since that auspicious event took place, a group of local urbanists has banded together to campaign for holding a series of structured open streets events in the summer and fall. This group, Open Streets Philly, is now building the public and political support for this endeavor. There is already a lot of momentum coming off of the pope visit and Open Streets Philly is working to keep that going. To that end, Open Streets Philly will hold a screening of a series of short films about Open Streets, co-Sponsored by Penn IUR, to spread the word about the value of and the ways to hold Open Streets events in Philadelphia. A panel will also be convened to discuss open streets in depth and answer questions from attendees. Speakers include Mike Lydon, Principal at the Streets Plan Collaborative and author of Tactical Urbanism, and Nate Hommel, Director of planning and design at University City District. For more information, click here.