Infrastructure | Penn IUR

News December 16, 2025 Leslie Richards on Penn’s Ambitious New Transportation Initiative The former CEO of PennDOT and SEPTA is working to break down silos and overcome the barriers to innovation. Leslie Richards Urban Development

Podcasts December 5, 2025 Special Briefing on AI in Government—More Efficiency but Fewer Workers? The launch of ChatGPT in 2022 sparked an “AI arms race” with trillions of dollars in investment and profound implications for productivity and employment. Join William Glasgall, Penn IUR Fellow and Volcker Alliance Public Finance Adviser, and Susan Wachter, Co-Director of Penn IUR and Wharton professor, and our expert panel as we discuss how generative AI and related technologies are reshaping public sector operations, workforce needs, and infrastructure planning. Panelists include Jon Hartley, Policy Fellow, Hoover Institution; Leigh Palmer, Vice President, Google Public Sector LLC; Megan Kilgore, City Auditor, City of Columbus, Ohio; Howard Neukrug, Executive Director, The Water Center at Penn and Professor of Practice, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania; and Thomas Sanchez, Professor, Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, Texas A&M University. Jon Hartley Leigh Palmer Megan Kilgore Howard Neukrug Thomas Sanchez State & Local Finance

Article November 14, 2025 Fellows in Urban Leadership Explore Climate Resilience in New York City The University of Pennsylvania’s 2025-2026 cohort of Fellows in Urban Leadership traveled to New York City for a full-day immersion into the layered, interdisciplinary work of building urban climate resilience. Climate Change & Resilience

Article October 29, 2025 Jere R. Behrman on the Impacts of Community Infrastructure on Children’s Learning Jere R. Behrman is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics and Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, a Penn IUR Faculty Fellow, and a Research Associate at Penn’s Population Studies Center (PSC), Population Aging Research Center (PARC), and the Penn Development Research Initiative (PDRI). State & Local Finance

Podcasts October 28, 2025 Special Briefing on Strategies for Closing the US Infrastructure Gap Public infrastructure gaps and deferred maintenance are critical challenges for state and local governments. Join William Glasgall, Penn IUR Fellow and Volcker Alliance Public Finance Adviser, and Susan Wachter, Co-Director of Penn IUR and Wharton professor, and our expert panel as we discuss how states and municipalities can better measure, manage, and fund infrastructure gaps. Panelists include Geoffrey Buswick, Managing Director & Sector Leader in U.S. Public Finance, S&P Global Ratings; Camila Fonseca Sarmiento, Director of Fiscal Research, Institute for Urban and Regional Infrastructure Finance; Hughey Newsome, Chief Financial Officer, Sound Transit; Leslie Richards, Professor of Practice, City and Regional Planning, Weitzman School of Design and Former CEO of SEPTA; Fatima Yousofi, Senior Officer, The Pew Charitable Trusts. Geoffrey Buswick Camila Fonseca Sarmiento Hughey Newsome Fatima Yousofi Leslie Richards State & Local Finance

Article October 20, 2025 Erick Guerra on the Costs and Benefits of Roads Erick Guerra studies the intersection of transportation, land use, and travel behavior, particularly in rapidly urbanizing and motorizing cities. Urban Development

Oct 17 2025 Past Event The Richards Transportation Initiative at Penn Launch Event Speakers: Leigh Palmer Urban Development

Oct 16 2025 Past Event Special Briefing: Strategies for Closing the US Infrastructure Gap Speakers: William Glasgall Susan Wachter Leslie Richards Camila Fonseca Sarmiento Geoffrey Buswick Fatima Yousofi Hughey Newsome State & Local Finance

Visiting Scholar Lu Ye

Professor, College of Architecture, Soochow University

Urban Development

Visiting Scholar Yao Yifeng

Ph.D, Associate Professor, Vice Director of Institute of Transportation Culture and Heritage Studies, Beijing Jiaotong University

Urban Development

News August 13, 2025 The Global Threat of Salt Contamination to Water Supplies Penn IUR Faculty Fellow Allison Lassiter is featured in Penn Today for her work on rising salt levels in freshwater sources. Climate Change & Resilience

Fellow in Urban Leadership Tanisha Agrawal

Penn IUR Fellow in Urban Leadership

Rapid Urbanization

News July 10, 2025 Transit Funding Crisis Unfolds in Pennsylvania Penn IUR Faculty Fellow Leslie Richards is featured in The American Prospect . Urban Development

Article March 26, 2025 Navigating Uncertainty in Federal Transportation Policy With significant policy reversals, staffing cuts, and the suspension of previously awarded federal funds, cities are being forced to reconsider how they plan, finance, and operate public transportation. State & Local Finance

News March 19, 2025 Highway to Hell: Inside PennDOT’s Plan to Widen I-95 Through South Philly Penn IUR Faculty Fellow Erick Guerra was featured in Philadelphia Magazine speaking about the upcoming I-95 expansion. Urban Development

News February 19, 2025 The University of Pennsylvania’s Institute for Urban Research Announces New Partnership with the Travelers Institute The University of Pennsylvania’s Institute for Urban Research (Penn IUR) is proud to announce a new partnership with the Travelers Institute, the public policy division of Travelers, to help support Penn IUR’s Special Briefing on the Fiscal Outlook of State and Local Governments webinar and podcast series. William Glasgall Susan Wachter Joan Woodward State & Local Finance

Mar 18 2025 Past Event Special Briefing: The Future of Mass Transportation under Trump and the GOP Speakers: Kurt Forsgren David Greising Randy Iwasaki Leslie Richards Polly Trottenberg Eugénie L. Birch William Glasgall State & Local Finance

Research Paper 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 Urban Development Housing

Faculty Fellow Sanya Carley

Presidential Distinguished Professor of Energy Policy & City Planning, Weitzman School of Design Mark Alan Hughes Faculty Director, The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy

Climate Change & Resilience

Article 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. Urban Development

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