Publications

Publication February 27, 2025 Community Benefits In Community Benefits, Jovanna P. Rosen explores a new pattern in urban development: local residents and community representatives leveraging large-scale development projects for agreements that promise dedicated local benefits, such as parks and jobs. In general, such development projects have not produced impactful benefits for local residents, and often have contributed to significant community harm, including gentrification and displacement. Jovanna Rosen

Publication February 27, 2025 Nation's Metropolis Nation’s Metropolis describes how the national capital region functions as a metropolitan political economy. Its authors distinguish aspects of the Washington region that reflect its characteristics as a national capital from those common to most other metropolitan regions and to other capitals. To do so, they employ an interdisciplinary approach that draws from economics, political science, sociology, geography, and history. Royce Hanson Harold Wolman

Publication February 27, 2025 The Paradox of Urban Revitalization Charting the tension between the practice of corporate subsidy and efforts to assure social justice, The Paradox of Urban Revitalization assesses the course of urban politics and policy over the past half century, before the COVID-19 pandemic upended everything, and details prospects for achieving greater equity in the years ahead. Howard Gillette Jr.

Publication February 27, 2025 Urban Planning in a World of Informal Politics In this book, Chandan Deuskar explores how politicians in developing democracies provide urban land and services to the urban poor in exchange for their political support, demonstrates how this impacts urban growth, and suggests innovative and practical ways in which urban planners can try to be more effective in this challenging political context. Chandan Deuskar

Publication February 27, 2025 China Urbanizing This book situates China’s urbanization in the interconnected forces of historical legacies, contemporary state interventions, and human and ecological conditions. It captures the complexity of the phenomenon of urbanization in its historical and regional variations, and explores its impact on the country’s socioeconomic welfare, environment and resources, urban form and lifestyle, and population and health. Weiping Wu Qin Gao

Publication February 27, 2025 Master Plans and Encroachments: The Architecture of Informality in Islamabad Master Plans and Encroachments examines informality in the high-modernist city of Islamabad as a strategic conformity to official schemes and regulations rather than as a deviation from them. Faiza Moatasim

Publication February 26, 2025 Megan Ryerson on Resilient, Environmentally-efficient Transportation Megan Ryerson's scholarship examines the interplay between transportation networks, urban development, energy efficiency and resilience.

Publication February 26, 2025 Navigating Economic Uncertainty: Insights from Special Briefing From government downsizing and budget cuts to trade tariffs and mounting national debt, the economic landscape is fraught with uncertainty. Penn IUR and the Volcker Alliance hosted a Special Briefing on February 20, 2025 with leading economists, policymakers, and financial experts for a timely discussion.

Publication February 26, 2025 A Strategic Partnership to Advance Urban SDG Financing Penn IUR and the Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) have teamed up for a strategic partnership to support the SDSN Global Commission for Urban SDG Finance.

Publication February 6, 2025 Megapolitan America Revisited: Demographic Trends to 2040 This report updates Nelson and Lang’s original analysis to provide demographic projections for all 23 megapolitan areas through 2040. This information, in turn, should be used by policymakers and planners to inform decisions about infrastructure investments, economic development opportunities, and housing demands. Arthur C. Nelson David Damore

Publication January 28, 2025 Expert Voices 2025 | Access to Sustainable and Affordable Housing Each year, Penn IUR engages a distinguished group of international experts to address a pressing urban challenge. This year, we asked leading voices in housing policy, urban planning, and finance to share their perspectives on a critical question: What bold actions or structural reforms are needed to ensure access to sustainable and affordable housing, and particularly to expand supply? What are the effective strategies that national and subnational governments can use to address this challenge? Eugénie L. Birch Susan Wachter Henry Cisneros Lance Freeman Laurie Goodman Benjamin Keys John Landis Marc H. Morial, Esq. Vincent Reina

Publication December 11, 2024 2024 Highlights and Season's Greetings As we wind down the year, we reflect on Penn IUR’s many activities and accomplishments in 2024 as well as the year ahead--our 20th!

Publication December 9, 2024 Laura Perna on Access to Higher Education Among the nation's leading scholars on issues of college access and affordability, Laura Perna has advanced the discourse on equity in higher education through numerous highly acclaimed edited volumes, reports, and articles. Her scholarship examines the policy choices for enabling access—and success—for post-K-12 education, assessing college access, affordability, and success--especially for low-income, first-generation, and non-traditional students. Laura Perna

Publication November 18, 2024 Dennis Culhane on The Emerging Crisis of Aged Homelessness Dennis Culhane

Publication November 14, 2024 Urban Sustainable Development: Governance, Finance, and Politics Urban Sustainable Development: Governance, Finance, and Politics addresses the critical challenges of promoting sustainable growth in rapidly expanding cities. Eugénie L. Birch Mauricio Rodas

Publication November 7, 2024 The Green Cities Guarantee Fund: Unlocking Access to Urban Climate Finance The SDSN Global Commission for Urban SDG Finance proposes a Green Cities Guarantee Fund (GCGF) as an important tool to increase the flow of public and private capital into subnational climate-responsive projects. This report details the case for the GCGF, offers a roadmap for operationalizing the fund, and makes suggestions for its initial market pilot in Latin America. Mauricio Rodas Eugénie L. Birch Luke Campo

Publication November 1, 2024 Fellows in Urban Leadership View Planning's Complexities During NYC Trip Fellows in Urban Leadership traveled to New York City for a day of tours and networking with industry leaders in planning, transportation, parks, waste management, and more.

Publication October 26, 2024 From Grey to Green: Better data to finance nature in cities The Penn Institute for Urban Research (Penn IUR) released a report for the United Nations (UN) Environment Programme Cities Unit’s State of Finance for Nature in Cities, "From Grey to Green: Better data to finance nature in cities," during COP16 Colombia. Amanda Lloyd Samuel Geldin Eugénie L. Birch

Publication October 24, 2024 Faculty Spotlight: Allison Lassiter Penn IUR Faculty Fellow Allison Lassiter is adapting drinking water systems to climate change. She tells Penn IUR about a tool her lab is developing, SaltCast, and her role in serving on Penn’s delegation to the UNFCCC Conference of Parties.

Publication October 16, 2024 Gilles Duranton on the Growth of Cities In his foundational review, “The growth of cities,” Duranton, together with co-author Diego Puga, argue that there are four main drivers to city growth. Gilles Duranton

Publication October 16, 2024 Commission Advances Agenda During New York Climate Week World mayors, urban finance and legal experts comprising the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Global Commission for Urban SDG Finance developed recommendations to address cities’ climate financing needs during Climate Week in New York.

Publication October 16, 2024 Sustainable Urban Futures: 2023-2024 Penn IUR Annual Report Penn Institute for Urban Research's annual report, Sustainable Urban Futures: Bridging Research, Policy, and Practice, documents the Institute’s research initiatives, publications, events, and instructional activities over the 2023–2024 academic year.

Publication September 19, 2024 Vincent Reina on Shaping Housing Policy Vincent Reina, an Associate Professor of City and Regional planning at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design and Faculty Director of the Housing Initiative at Penn (HIP), spoke with Penn Institute for Urban Research on his experience as Senior Advisor for housing and urban policy in the White House Domestic Policy Council. Vincent Reina Megan Schmidgal

Publication September 14, 2024 SDSN Global Commission for Urban SDG Finance Recommendations Report The SDSN Global Commission for Urban SDG Finance is working at a critical juncture for urban climate finance. Cities continue to face record-breaking heat and devastating disasters. As the cost of our underpreparedness mounts, cities continue to receive only 7-8% of climate funds despite housing nearly 60% of the global population. There are signs that enabling conditions are being strengthened and cities are gaining the attention they desperately need. However, cities need to be ready for the spotlight. Mauricio Rodas Eugénie L. Birch William Burke-White Laura Frances Mueller-Soppart Amanda Lloyd

Publication September 3, 2024 Penn IUR newsletter, Fall 2024 The Penn Institute for Urban Research's biannual newsletter is a journal of record, activities and news.

Publications

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