Past Events

"Build Baby Build: Is the Answer to Our Housing Crisis…More Housing?"

Speakers included: Mo Rushdy, of Riverwards Group and chair of the  Philadelphia Accelerator Fund, which plans to finance 6,000 affordable homes in the next few years; Leslie Smallwood-Lewis, of Mosaic Development Partners, which is building both middle income and tiny home communities in neighborhoods of color; and Richard Kahlenberg, author of Excluded: How Snob Zoning, NIMBYism, and Class Bias Build the Walls We Don’t See. 

Moderated by Diana Lind, Citizen contributor and author of Brave New Home: Our Future in Smarter, Simpler, Happier Housing. 

"Built to Grow" 

December 14, 2023

Michael Murphy, award-winning founder of nonprofit architecture design firm MASS (for “model of architecture serving society”) Design Group, sees buildings as vessels for healing individuals and communities, as demonstrated in his work from hospitals in Rwanda and Uganda, to the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, AL, which has been called “the single greatest work of American architecture in the 21st century.” Murphy will explore the way architecture can “be a transformative engine for change” with The Inquirer’s Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic Inga Saffron.

“Placemaking and Economic Growth”

June 20, 2023  

How does the design of a public space connect communities, and how can it lead to economic growth for neighborhoods and the city? This event in the Development...for Good series looks at these questions, with some of the Philadelphians who have answered them in their work. Speakers included:

• Jerry Sweeney, Brandywine Realty Trust CEO
• Connor Barwin, founder, Make the World Better Foundation
• Jerome Shabazz, Executive Director of Overbrook Environmental Education Center
• Tya Winn, Executive Director of the Community Design Collaborative

Moderated by Laura Slutsky, until recently Executive Director of the Urban Land Institute.

“The Future of the Office”

September 7, 2022  
 
A conversation about how Philadelphia business leaders are re-establishing the workplace post-pandemic and creating new opportunities for the city. Speakers included:

• Crystal Ashby, Chief People Officer at Independence Blue Cross
• Kimberly Smith, Vice President of Workplace Strategy at JLL
• Angela Val, President and CEO, Visit Philadelphia

Moderated by Prema Katari Gupta, Executive Director of Central Philadelphia Development Corporation and Vice President for Parks and Public Realm.

“Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America: Olmsted at 200”

May 19-20, 2022

The Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation celebrated Olmsted 200: the 200th anniversary of Frederick Law Olmsted, urban planner, and founder of American landscape architecture. We featured a film screening of "Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America" and a panel discussion that featured:

• Laurence Cotton, filmmaker and historian
• Maura McCarthy, executive director of the Fairmount Park Conservancy
• Hosted by Alan Greenberger, FAIA

“Philly Thinks Big: Redesigning the City with Big Projects”

April 26, 2022 
 
A conversation about the ways big projects are reshaping our city today, including reimagining the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, redesigning the waterfront at Penn’s Landing, and the transformation of the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Speakers included:

• Diana Lind, Vice President, Community & Culture at the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia
• Gregory Reaves, Founder and Co-owner of Mosaic Development Partners, LLC
• Julie Donofrio, Managing Director at PennPraxis

Moderated by Martha Cross, Deputy Director of the Division of Planning and Zoning within the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Planning and Development and David Brownlee, Architectural Historian and Professor of the History of Art Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania.

"Show Me The Money: How Real Estate Development Fights Inequality"

November 22, 2021

A discussion that zeroed in on how intentional development can help lessen Philadelphia's income and wealth gap. Speakers included: 

• Matt Pestronk, CEO of Post Brothers
• Bruce Crawley, president of Millennium 3 Management
• Charles Lomax, co-founder of Lomax Real Estate Partners and the Philadelphia Accelerator Fund, treasurer
• Laura Slutsky, executive director of the Urban Land Institute

Moderated by Larry Platt, Co-Executive Director of The Philadelphia Citizen.

“University City Boom”

October 27, 2021

A discussion that examined the intersection of private real estate development and the public good. Speakers included: 

• John Fry, Drexel University President 
• David Adelman, Campus Apartments CEO
• Jeff Marrazzo, Spark Therapeutics CEO
• Della Clark, Enterprise Center CEO 

Moderated by Center City District’s Prema Katari Gupta.