Seminar on Planning, Universities, and the Quality of Life in American Cities: Penn-West Philadelphia as a Strategic Case Study

Faculty: Ira Harkavy
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The seminar examines the board issue of the relationship of universities to their local environments.  Specifically, the seminar focuses on the history of Penn’s relationship to West Philadelphia and the extent to which Penn’s actions (or inactions) have both positively and negatively affected the quality of life in its local environment.  Beginning with Paul Cret’s plans in 1913, we will review and assess the University’s various planning efforts.  Significant attention will be devoted to how Penn, the Graduate School of Fine Arts, Penn’s eleven other schools, and Penn’s City and Regional Planning Department can make significant contributions to improving the University’s local environment, simultaneously advancing knowledge and student learning.  More generally, the seminar will investigate how Penn’s activities to improve the quality of life in West Philadelphia can exemplify planning’s potential to contribute to overcoming the problems of the American City.