Innovation

Urban Leadership Awardee Martin O’Malley
Former Governor, Maryland Former Mayor, Baltimore, Maryland
State & Local Finance
Urban Leadership Awardee Jeremy Nowak
President, J Nowak and Associates Previous Board Chair, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
State & Local Finance
Article September 29, 2026 Penn IUR Engages Global Partners on Climate Finance and Resilience During Climate Week NYC Penn IUR played an active role during Climate Week NYC, convening discussions on climate finance, resilience, investment, and governance with researchers, policymakers, city and state officials, international organizations, financial institutions, and private-sector leaders.  State & Local Finance Anchor Institutions
Oct 29 11:00 am Special Briefing on Data Centers: Will they power the US economy or bog it down in a swamp of controversy? Speakers:  William Glasgall Susan Wachter Eugénie L. Birch Amanda Kass Thomas Sanchez Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh Urban Development State & Local Finance
Announcement August 25, 2026 Penn IUR, SDSN Global Commission for Urban SDG Finance Named Partners for Smart City Expo World Congress Penn IUR, as Secretariat of the SDSN Global Commission for Urban SDG Finance, is now a partner of Fira Barcelona and the Smart City Expo World Congress. Climate Change & Resilience
News June 2, 2026 Alstom strengthens U.S. rail future through partnerships with academic institutions Leslie Richards, founder and director of the Transportation Initiative at Penn, welcomes partnership with Alstom to bridge transportation research and real-world practice. Urban Development
Article April 20, 2026 Faculty Spotlight: Sanya Carley Penn IUR Faculty Fellow Sanya Carley, Penn’s Vice Provost for Climate Science, Policy, and Action, is leading a new era of multidisciplinary climate strategy. She speaks with Penn IUR about the launch of the Penn Climate office, the upcoming Grand Climate Challenge Initiative, and her research into energy justice and the human costs of the clean energy transition. Climate Change & Resilience
Announcement April 8, 2026 Penn IUR Honors Visionary Leadership in Cities at 21st Annual Urban Leadership Forum Penn IUR honored two distinguished leaders and outstanding students with the 2026 Nussdorf Urban Leaders Prize at the 21st Annual Urban Leadership Forum. Climate Change & Resilience State & Local Finance
Apr 09 2026 Past Event Death of Distance Redux? How AI is Changing the Future of Cities Speakers:  Elizabeth Delmelle Erick Guerra John Landis Susan Wachter Xiaojiang Li Urban Development
Patrick Sabol
Staff Patrick Sabol
Program Director, Transportation Initiative at Penn
Patrick Sabol is the Program Director for the Transportation Initiative at Penn (TRIP). Urban Development
Feb 19 2026 Past Event Special Briefing on Addressing the Housing Crisis: Innovative Solutions from Across America Speakers:  William Glasgall Susan Wachter Hannah Blitzer Eric Goldywn Laurie Goodman Paul Steenhausen State & Local Finance
News January 6, 2026 Waymo, meet Pittsburgh: Are driverless taxis ready for Steel City streets? Penn IUR Faculty Fellow Erick Guerra on how Waymo's technology fits into the U.S. traffic safety crisis. Urban Development
Jan 28 2026 Past Event POSTPONED What Pandemic-Era Experiments Can Teach Us About the Future of Public Space Speakers:  Ariel Ben-Amos Jason Brody, PhD Josh Davidson Tya Winn Urban Development
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
Article December 10, 2025 Commissioners Join Leaders at CoMotion GLOBAL 2025 to Advance the Mayors in Motion Initiative At CoMotion GLOBAL 2025 in Riyadh, Mauricio Rodas and Eugénie L. Birch, representing the Secretariat of the UN SDSN’s Global Commission for Urban SDG Finance, joined more than 100 city leaders, policymakers, and innovators for the launch of Mayors in Motion. Mauricio Rodas Eugénie L. Birch Climate Change & Resilience Rapid Urbanization
News December 9, 2025 NYC leading office-to-housing conversions Penn IUR Faculty Fellow Vincent Reina of the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design on what it takes to make office-to-housing conversions viable. Housing
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
Announcement November 19, 2025 Penn Institute for Urban Research Releases Policy Brief on the Future of the GSEs The Penn Institute for Urban Research (Penn IUR) at the University of Pennsylvania has released a new policy brief, “The Future of the GSEs: Conservatorship, Capital, and Mission, Housing
Nov 19 2025 Past Event Penn GIS DAY 2025: Exploring the World Through Maps and Data Speakers:  Dana Bauer Urban Development
News September 30, 2025 University of Pennsylvania launches mobility solutions initiative The Transportation Initiative at Penn (TRIP) will bring together leading minds from academia, government and industry to tackle the complexities of the modern transportation system, while delivering innovative ideas from the lab to the streets.  Urban Development

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