Third Annual Wharton Future of Cities Conference

The third annual Wharton Future of Cities Conference, organized by Wharton MBA students on the theme of “Climate Resilient Cities: The Next Generation of Urban Infrastructure,” took place April 15. The conference featured five cross-disciplinary panels and three 20-minute “lightning lectures” on mitigating and building resilience to the mounting impacts of climate change, from electrifying urban transportation and developing zero-carbon buildings to designing adaptation strategies for flood prone areas. Koko Warner, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) Secretariat, United Nations, gave closing remarks.

Penn IUR Co-Directors Eugenie Birch and Susan Wachter have served as faculty advisors for the conference since its inception, providing support, connections, and advice to the student organizing committee, which is composed of first- and second-year MBA students with an interest in urban issues.

In 2020, the inaugural year of the conference, the event focused on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on cities; in 2021, the conference wrestled with opportunities for rebuilding and restructuring urban systems in the wake of COVID-19. Recordings from the past two years are available on the conference website; when the 2022 recordings are available they will also be posted on the conference website. Students who wish to get involved in next year’s conference should email whartonfuturecities@gmail.com.