Downtown Development

Will downtowns recover? In the last decades of the 20th century America’s cities rebounded as downtowns diversified their land-use, evolving from 9-5 office districts to 24-hour, mixed-use business, hospitality, retail, institutional and residential areas with an increasing number of well-managed parks and vibrant plazas. In many cities, downtown housing demand pushed prices beyond the range of many residents.  Covid-19 challenged many of the core assumptions and assets around which these places have been built: public transit and the benefits of density, walkability and face-to-face interaction in the workplace, at conventions and meetings, in hotels, restaurants, cafes and public spaces.

City Planning 6420 will focus on downtown recovery, reviewing the impact of three inter-related events: (1) the pandemic; (2) the duration of state and local government mandated shut-downs; and (3) civil unrest which led to rethinking and reformulating of public safety strategies in many cities. Responding to the pandemic required unprecedented actions by national governments, expedited production by pharmaceutical companies, well-designed and equitable distribution strategies. However, what happens on sidewalks, in stores and restaurants, in office buildings, universities and local health care institutions, 
in residential neighborhoods and in parks and public spaces is the result of local action: by government, business and civic groups and transit agencies. Some cities capitalized on this crisis to make needed changes, others are still mired in unresolved local challenges. This course focuses on what can be done at the local level and will use Philadelphia’s Center City as a laboratory for exploring strategies that work.