The Penn Institute for Urban Research (Penn IUR) is an interdisciplinary research center at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. The Institute is affiliated with the 12 schools at the University of Pennsylvania, and housed at the

University of Pennsylvania School of Design The University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design is the design school of the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. It offers degrees in architecture, landscape architecture, city and regional planning, historic preservation ...

. The Institute was founded in 2004, and focuses on three main research areas: 1) Exploring innovative urban development strategies; 2) Building the inclusive 21st century

sustainable city The sustainable city, eco-city, or green city is a city designed with consideration for social, economic, environmental impact (commonly referred to as the triple bottom line), and resilient habitat for existing populations, without compromisi ...

; and 3) Understanding the role of anchor institutions in urban places. Eugenie L. Birch and Susan M. Wachter are the Co-Directors of Penn IUR.

Affiliated experts

Penn IUR has 200 affiliated urban policy experts in several categories, including Penn IUR Fellows (urban practitioners), Faculty Fellows (urban scholars at Penn) and Scholars (urban scholars outside of Penn). Among the Institute’s Faculty Fellows, Scholars and Fellows are

Richard Florida Richard L. Florida is an American urban studies theorist focusing on social and economic theory. He is a professor at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and a Distinguished Fellow at NYU's School of Professional Studies. ...

Michael Nutter Michael Anthony Nutter (born June 29, 1957) is an American politician who served as the 98th Mayor of Philadelphia. Elected on November 6, 2007, he was reelected to a second term on November 8, 2011. He is a previous member of the Philadelphia ...

Manny Diaz (Florida politician) Manuel Alberto Diaz (born November 5, 1954) is a Cuban-American politician who served as the chair of the Florida Democratic Party from 2021 to 2023. From 2001 to 2009, he served as the mayor of Miami, Florida. Early life and career Diaz and ...

, Frederick Steiner, John L. Jackson, Saskia Sassen, Paul Jargowsky, and Ken Lum.

Publications

The Penn Institute for Urban Research publishes The City in the 21st Century Series in conjunction with the

University of Pennsylvania Press The University of Pennsylvania Press (or Penn Press) is a university press affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The press was originally incorporated with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on 26 M ...

. Since 2006, the Institute has published 32 titles in the series, including ''Revitalizing America’s Cities'' and ''Design After Decline: How America Rebuilds Shrinking Cities''. Also in the series is ''Beat Cop to Top Cop: A Tale of Three Cities'', co-authored by Former Miami Police Chief John Timoney. In September 2012, Penn IUR launched the Urban Research eJournal an

electronic journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and ...

dedicated to disseminating the latest scholarly work on

urbanism Urbanism is the study of how inhabitants of urban areas, such as towns and cities, interact with the built environment. It is a direct component of disciplines such as urban planning, which is the profession focusing on the physical design and ...

and sustainability, published through the

Social Science Research Network The Social Science Research Network (SSRN) is a repository for preprints devoted to the rapid dissemination of scholarly research in the social sciences, humanities, life sciences, and health sciences, among others. Elsevier bought SSRN from S ...

. This eJournal gathers and distributes new research that addresses the governance, policy, economics, design and social issues related to global urbanization. Global Urban Commons (the Commons) is a publicly-accessible directory of university-based urban research centers created by The Penn Institute for Urban Research (Penn IUR). The initiative includes more than 200 urban-research focused organizations from around the world. The creation of the Commons was funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, as part of its “Transforming Cities” initiative, which aims to address issues affecting urban areas and promote more equitable cities.

Events

Penn IUR hosts panel discussions and other public events throughout the academic year, some in partnership with other organizations such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art and

Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia — also known as the Philadelphia Fed or the Philly Fed — headquartered at 10 Independence Mall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is responsible for the Third District of the Federal Reserve, which covers ...

Affiliations

Penn IUR is an academic member of the New Cities Foundation. It is also a partner of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

’ World Urban Campaign.World Urban Campaign – Partners. Retrieved 2016-08-29.

References

External links

* {{authority control Research institutes established in 2004 Research institutes in Pennsylvania Urbanization Urban economics Sustainable urban planning University of Pennsylvania 2004 establishments in Pennsylvania Urban studies and planning schools