Jeffery Sachs to Offer Keynote Address at Upcoming Penn Event on Sustainable Urbanization

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – October 29, 2015 –The Penn Institute for Urban Research (Penn IUR) and Perry World House are pleased to announce that Jeffery Sachs, Director of Columbia’s Earth Institute and Director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, will give the keynote address at an upcoming event on strategies for sustainable urbanization and development.

The event, titled “Sustainable Global Urbanization,” will be held on November 4 at the University of Pennsylvania. Sachs will discuss his most recent book, The Age of Sustainable Development, as well as the recent adoption of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), universally applicable goals that will drive the implementation of sustainable development on a global scale.

The event will also include a panel of experts discussing the challenges of providing affordable housing in an urbanizing world. Featured panelists include: Eugenie Birch, Co-Director, Penn IUR; Lawrence C. Nussdorf Professor of Urban Research and Education Professor, Department of City & Regional Planning, Penn Design; Chair, UN-HABITAT’s World Urban Campaign (WUC); Robert Buckley, Senior Fellow, Milano School of International Affairs, Management and Urban Policy, The New School; Maruxa Cardama, Executive Coordinator and Founder, Communitas Coalition for Sustainable Cities and Regions in the New UN Development Agenda; Marja Hoek-Smit, Adjunct Professor of Real Estate, Director and Founder, International Housing Finance Program, Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center, The Wharton School; and Stephen Malpezzi, Professor, Real Estate & Urban Land Economics, Wisconsin School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The event will be introduced by William W. Burke-White, Richard Perry Professor, Penn Law; Inaugural Director, Perry World House, University of Pennsylvania, and the panel will be moderated by Susan Wachter, Co-Director, Penn IUR; Sussman Professor, Professor of Real Estate and Finance, The Wharton School. 

“Sustainable Global Urbanization,” co-sponsored by Penn IUR and Perry World House, will be held on November 4, 2015, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Fitts Auditorium, 3501 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA. Registration is required.

All media interested in attending, please contact Deborah Lang at dlang@upenn.edu or 215.880.2372

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