News
URBS Alum Rachel Diller featured on Good Dirt Podcast
Rachel Diller, a Penn Urban Studies alum, is featured on the Good Dirt commercial real estate podcast.
Read MoreURBS Seventh Ward Course Featured in the Inquirer
Our First Year Seminar Course Investigating the Old Seventh Ward students Noah Kocher and Isha Mankar are featured in a recent article in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Check it out!
Read More2023 Kenneth Jackson Award for Best Book in North American Urban History
Congratulations to URBS Professor Domenic Vitiello for receiving the Kenneth Jackson Award for Best Book in North American Urban History for his 2022 publication The Sanctuary City.
Read MoreBroken School Buildings
Alisa Ghura (URBS ’23), researched safety hazards in school buildings in low-income school districts and barriers to change.
Read MoreURBS Students Doing The Most This Spring
As we wrap up the year, the URBS department wants to give a shout-out to our wonderful students:
Read MoreURBS graduate makes 100 most influential Philly list
Big congrats to Michael Banks (URBS '14) on being one of Philly Mag's 100 Most Influential People in Philadelphia!
Read MoreThe Statue Podcast
Paul Farber, Monument Lab co-founder and Design faculty, reveals the history and meaning of Philadelphia's Rocky Statue as only an URBS alum can. Listen to the podcast using the link below, or go to…
Read MoreDon’t let Philly homes get abandoned. Fix them up instead.
Brand new Urban Studies major Layla Sayed got an op-ed published in the Philadephia Inquirer. Impressive! The idea: Low-income homeowners are losing their homes because they can't afford basic…
Read MoreTwo college buds spent 19 hours riding 10 NJ Transit buses across NJ
Armed with Cheez-Its, pretzels and a whiteboard to track their journey and fares, Jeremy Zorek and Miles Taylor attempted what few — perhaps no one, at least not voluntarily — have done before.
Read MoreNew Article from Professor Smith
Capital-Star Opinion Editorial on how PA’s incarcerated are doing their part to fight gun violence from the inside out. Tens of thousands of Americans with criminal records are fighting to restore…
Read More
Welcome to Urban Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Urban Studies is an interdisciplinary program in the College of Arts & Sciences. It draws on faculty and resources across the university and the city to offer students a multi-faceted approach to the study of urban trends.
Upcoming Events
Urban Impacts of Liquid Markets: Water and New Housing in Colorado
Add to calendar! Speaker: Benji Smith, Applied Economics Discussant: Dr. Alison Lassiter, City and Regional Planning Abstract: A growing class of local land use regulations stem from water scarcity; this paper seeks…
Spotlight
-
Melanie Wolff
"It is our choices that show who we truly are, far more than our abilities." - J.K. Rowling -
Qingying Xia
"I’ll never know who I am till I tame the time." -
Anthony Andre Zarate
“Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives - choice, not chance, determines your destiny.” - Aristotle