Long before Frank Chen was a graduate student at the Weitzman School of Design, his parents—both architects based in Hangzhou, China—shaped his profound appreciation for built environments. Throughout his youth, they took him to see landmark structures, museums, libraries, and more. While these experiences were formative, Chen developed his own fascinations with cities, maps, and urban spaces.
“I always found myself more curious about the city scale. Whenever we visited a new place, my favorite thing was to go to the bookstore or local convenience stores to get a paper map,” says Chen, pursuing degrees in Master of City Planning and Master of Urban Spatial Analytics (MUSA). “I used to study how cities were laid out, where the roads go, how things connected.”
Growing up in Hangzhou, Chen saw how fast the historic city developed, as well as the challenges this caused—from population growth and traffic congestion to limited public space. This inspired Chen, who graduated from Tianjin University with an engineering degree focused on urban and rural planning, to pursue a career in improving cities for societal benefit.
At Penn, Chen has led several projects that combine city planning with urban spatial analysis. One project—displayed at the Weitzman Year End Show—may benefit urban residents in Philadelphia and beyond.
Using cutting-edge computation tools, Chen developed a visual model that strategically maps the best places to plant street trees in Philadelphia for optimal shade and pedestrian benefit. One goal is to help address the pressing challenge of heatwaves, an emerging problem in cities worldwide.
“Heat is a public health issue and it’s causing deaths globally,” Chen says. His project involves balancing an intricate trade-off between tree shade and tree location, all with pedestrian well-being in mind.
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