Shiva Kooragayala came to study City and Regional Planning at PennDesign after graduating from Emory University and currently is working as a Research Associate at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C.
What does a typical day as Shiva look like?
On the weekdays, I typically bike to work around 8:30amand work till about 6:00. My work day is a mix of meetings and solo time in my office. The cool thing about my workplace is that there are always interesting talks and convenings that I try to go to frequently. After work, I usually try to go to the gym or meet up with friends for happy hour in the typical Washington fashion.
If you could go backward or forward in time, what era would you choose and why?
I actually have no idea. I like living in the moment.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
Cartographer, architect, and then a public-policy professional. The last one was definitely a high-school thing.
What do you miss most about your time at PennDesign?
The happy hours and the intellectual conversations.
What’s been your favorite professional project so far?
Too many! Here's a few:
1. I did a fun piece looking at the racial distribution of Pokestops on Pokemon Go to make an argument about the potential for ‘digital place-making.’ The piece took off on the internet, and I got to be interviewed for national print and radio media.
2. I worked on evaluating the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, the federal agency tasked with coordinating the federal strategy around reducing homelessness last year. The work was timely and important, as the agency was scheduled to terminate this year without congressional reauthorization. I got to interview and meet with a range of stakeholders from federal agencies all the way down to social workers across the nation. I traveled to LA and Houston to get an on-the-ground look on the issues. The work has been cited widely and has been used in numerous congressional testimonies advocating for continued work.
3. I am currently on a team of researchers conducting the Annual Survey of Refugees, which is the only nationally representative survey of refugees living in the United States, for the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Our team has fielded the survey, and we will analyze the results and redesign the survey for upcoming years. The work is timely and will hopefully provide much-needed empirical evidence around refugees’ self-sufficiency and pathways towards integration.
What’s your favorite place in Philly?
The trail along the Schuylkill River and Frankford Hall on weekends
What’s your favorite public space in Philly?
Rittenhouse Square or Schuylkill River Banks
Design hero, living or dead?
Jane Jacobs (if she counts)
What building or park would you most like to give a makeover?
Meyerson Hall!
Pretzel or cheesesteak?
Pretzel
Paris or London?
London for sure! I studied abroad in London in college and fell in love with the city.
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