Historic Preservation

Posted August 24, 2018

  • Francesca Russello Ammon, a PennDesign assistant professor of city and regional planning, focused on Philadelphia's Society Hill neighborhood for her research on historic preservation. Photo: Eric Sucar, University of Pennsylvania Communications.

  • The "Preserving Society Hill" map of the Society Hill neighborhood is interactive, each property outlined in blue. (1942 Land Use Map courtesy the Free Library of Philadelphia)

Preserving Philadelphia's Society Hill

A recent PennToday story explores Assistant Professor of City and Regional Planning Francesca Ammon's research on urban renewal in Philadelphia's Society Hill neighborhood. Assisted by a team of PennDesign graduate students including Sarah Scott (MSHP'19, MCP'19), Meredith Johnson (MSHP'19), and Katie Randall (MSHP'19, MCP'19), as well as alumna Arielle Harris (MSHP'17), Ammon recently launched a website related to the project, “Preserving Society Hill," which includes an interactive map that combines architectural details, photographs, and oral histories for each site in the neighborhood.