Eugenie L. Birch

A.B., Bryn Mawr College
M.S.U.P., Columbia University
Ph.D., Columbia University

Professor Birch is the Lawrence C. Nussdorf Chair of Urban Research and Education. She teaches courses in global urbanization and the doctoral seminar and serves as chair, Graduate Group in City and Regional Planning , co-director, Penn Institute for Urban Research, co-editor, City in the 21st Century Series, University of Penn Press  and co-editor, SSRN Urban Research e-journal. She chaired the Department of City and Regional Planning from 1998-2008.

Through Penn IUR, she serves as co-director, Secretariat, SDSN Global Commission on Urban SDG Finance, co-chaired by Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, Eduardo Paes, Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, and Jeffrey Sachs, President, SDSN. The commission’s latest report is The Green Cities Guarantee Fund, Unlocking Access to Urban Climate Finance (November, 2024). 

Professor Birch’s research focuses on global urbanization with an emphasis on urban climate finance, sustainable urban development and multilevel government in implementing global agreements. Her most recent publications are:Urban Sustainable Development, Governance, Finance, (Rio de Janeiro: CEBRI, 2024) (with Pedro Vormittag and Mariana Albuquerque), in which she has written "How the Cidade Maravilhosa Became More Marvelous, Lessons for the G20," Harnessing Urban Innovation to Unlock the Sustainable Development Goals (New York: Springer, 2024) (with Ali Chesmehzangi, Nicholas You, and Jose Siri). "Realigning the Governance Architecture After Covid-19: City Diplomacy and Multilateral Institutions," Journal of International Affairs (74:1, 2021) (with William Burke-White), “Metrics and the Impact of the Urban SDG,”  in  Thomas Elquist et al. (eds), The Urban Planet: Patterns and Pathways to the Cities We Want  (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018) (with Andrew Rudd, Maruxa Cardama, Aromar Revi),“The Institutions of Metropolitan Governance,” in D.A. Gomez-Alvarzez, E. Moreno and R. Rajack (eds), Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development (Nairobi: UN Habitat, 2017); “Inclusion and Innovation: The Many Forms of Stakeholder Engagement in Habitat III,” Citiscape (July 2017); “Implementing the New Urban Agenda in the United States, Building on a Firm Foundation,” Informationen zur Raumentwicklung (Information on Spatial Development) (Summer 2017)  Slums, How Informal Real Estate Markets Work, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press (2016) ( with Susan Wachter, Shahana Chattaraj) and "Habitat III Make a Difference to Global Urban Development?” Journal of the American Planning Association 84:4 (Fall 2016); .

Professor Birch has been active in the field's professional and civic organizations in the United States and abroad. Among her past leadership activities are: president, General Assembly of Partners (GAP), the engagement platform for the implementation of the UN’s New Urban Agenda and associated global agreements, co-chair, Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Thematic Group on Cities, president, Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning; president, Society of American City and Regional Planning History; president, International Planning History Society;  co-Editor, Associate Editor and Book Review Editor, Journal of the American Planning Association; chair, Planning Accreditation Board, chair, member of the editorial boards of Planning Theory and Practice, Journal of Planning History, Journal of Planning Education and Research and Planning Perspectives; Member New York City Planning Commission, Member Jury to select the designers for the World Trade Center site, Chair, Board of Trustees of the Municipal Art Society of New York and Member, Board of Trustees of the Regional Plan Association of New York.

Professor Birch lectures widely. She has been Visiting Scholar, Queens University Ontario, Canada; Foreign Scholar, University of Hong Kong and Visiting Professor, University of the Witswatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. She has delivered several  keynote addresses and lectures as exemplified by "Urbanization and Global Agreements around the World: How Does China Fit In? "International Association of Chinese Planning (June 2024), “Resilient Cities, Greener Neighborhoods, Thriving Communities: The Power Of Nature Based Solutions,” United Nations Habitat Assembly (June, 2023), “Building Urban Resilience, Climate Sensitive Planning in the United States,” World Urban Forum, Katowice (June  2022), “The New Urban Agenda: Problems and their Potential Solutions,” 4^th Planocosmo International Conference, Institu Teknologi Bandung, Bandung, Indonesia (April 2018), “Today’s Global Agreements, on Sustainable Urban Development, From Stakeholders to Partners,” Dorn McGrath Jr. Annual Lecture in Urban Planning and Geography, George Washington University, Washington, DC (March 2018).

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning has recognized her with its Distinguished Educator Award (2009), Jay Chatterjee Award for Distinguished Service (2006), and  Margarita McCoy Award (1994). The Society of American City and Regional Planning History awarded her its Lawrence C. Gerckens Prize (2009) and the American Planning Association honored her with their APA President's Award in 2013. In 2000, she was elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners and made a member (honorary) of the Royal Town Planning Institute.

The statement made by Professor Birch at the closing ceremony of the UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) can be found here:  http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/watch/professor-of-education-and-research-of-university-of-pennsylvania-habitat-iii-closure-ceremony/5179115593001