The Drexel Symposium on Urban Futures will engage participants in cross-disciplinary topics such as urban sustainability, community development, public policy, design equity and the impact of technology on urban spaces.
Through keynote speeches, panel discussions, workshops and networking opportunities, attendees will delve into how urbanism shapes our daily lives and explore the strategies necessary for building more resilient, sustainable and human-centered cities.
Please e
mail us at alumni@drexel.edu with any questions or ideas you want to share.
The Farajollah and Maryam Badie Arfaa Lecture Series presents, Vishaan Chakrabarti: The Architecture of Urbanity: Designing for Nature, Culture, and Joy. Chakrabarti is founder and creative director of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU), a Manhattan-based architecture firm dedicated to building ecological, equitable and joyous communities. Chakrabarti leads PAU's cultural, institutional, infrastructure and public space projects including Brooklyn's Domino Sugar Refinery, Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Princeton's Hobson College, New York's Pennsylvania Station, and the FAA's new air traffic control tower prototype. In New York, Chakrabarti also collaborated in efforts to save the High Line, rebuild the East River waterfront, expand Columbia University’s campus, and reincorporate the street grid at the World Trade Center site. Chakrabarti is the author of A Country of Cities: A Manifesto for an Urban America (Metropolis Books, 2013) and The Architecture of Urbanity: Designing for Nature, Culture, and Joy (Princeton University Press, 2024). Hosted by the Antoinette Westphal College of Media, Arts & Design’s Department of Architecture, Design & Urbanism.
RSVP
With the construction of the cap over Interstate 95 at Penn’s Landing, Philadelphia stands to gain a new neighborhood along the Delaware Waterfront. What will it look like? How will it connect to the city? Who will live there? Can we imagine a new neighborhood that is truly for all walks of life? We are partnering with Vishaan Chakrabarti - founder and creative director of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) – to imagine the future of Philadelphia’s Delaware waterfront in this year’s Charette.
Join Our Charrette Presentation on Sunday, May 4
Beginning on Friday, May 2, we will bring together approximately 100 students from a variety of disciplines for a design challenge all weekend-long. We invite you to join us on Sunday, May 4, from 1:30–4:00 p.m. for a presentation of their solutions. Hosted by the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design’s Department of Architecture, Design & Urbanism.
RSVP
Tracy Hadden Loh is a Fellow with the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Center for Transformative Placemaking at Brookings Metro, where she integrates her interests in commercial real estate, infrastructure, racial justice, and governance. Trained as a computer scientist, urbanist, and scholar, Dr. Loh has dedicated her career to creating new knowledge about how neighborhoods, cities, and regions work and putting those insights into practice through community organizing and government service. She serves on the boards of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, Greater Greater Washington, and District Bridges. Her most recent writing includes two co-authored chapters in Hyperlocal: Place Governance in a Fragmented World and a series on the future of downtowns, including what to do about public safety and adaptive reuse.
Our panel of Drexel faculty experts will take a deep dive into the issues surrounding the sustainability and livability of modern urban environments. Through the lens of citizenship, health and infrastructure, our panel will tackle important questions surrounding human responsibilities in the future of urbanism.
Richard Dilworth, PhD, professor of politics and head of the Department of Politics at Drexel University. Dilworth’s research and teaching focuses on American urban political development, urban environmental policy, and community economic development.
Alina Schnake Mahl, ScD, MPH, assistant professor in the Urban Health Collaborative and the Department of Health Management and Policy at Drexel's Dornsife School of Public Health. Mahl is a social epidemiologist and health services researcher, and her primary research interest is in the social and political determinants of health inequities.
Andrew Zitcer, PhD, director of the Urban Strategy graduate program, and an associate professor of Arts Administration in the Westphal College of Media Arts & Design. Zitcer teaches courses in civic engagement, research design and methods, creative placemaking, and cultural policy. His research focuses on cooperative social and economic practices, as well as the role of arts in sustaining democracy.
RSVP ALUMNI RSVP STUDENTS AND FRIENDS
Drexel’s Symposium on Urban Futures is presented by Drexel University’s Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, College of Arts and Sciences and the Dornsife School of Public Health in partnership with many of Philadelphia’s civic and community groups.