Future of Cities 2025: Archive
Archive for Wharton-Weitzman Future of Cities 2025
[Opening Keynote] Building for Belonging: Shaping the Future of Cities through Equity, Innovation, and Inclusive Growth
Dan Garodnick | Director, NYC Department of City Planning
Nithya Raman | Los Angeles City Council Member
Ken Miles | Executive Director, The Penn Center For Inclusive Innovation & Technology
[Panel I] Advancing Mission-Driven Development
This panel will explore how developers, investors, policy advisors, and art institutions are shaping a future where development projects prioritize affordable housing, sustainability and community benefits alongside traditional financial returns. Topics will include innovative financing approaches for mission-based real estate; strategies for building impactful partnerships with local organizations, government agencies and community groups; the role of commercial and retail spaces in fostering community connection and engagement; and the importance of navigating regulatory hurdles and driving effective community involvement.
Nadia Sesay | Chief Community Growth Officer, Bedrock
Vincent Reina | Professor of City and Regional Planning | Weitzman School of Design
Brian Murray | Chief Executive Officer, Shift Capital
Laura Schultz Rog | Managing Partner, LMXD
[Panel II] Emerging Transportation Solutions - Through the Lens of Freight Innovation
This panel will examine innovative strategies for addressing the growing transit challenges in U.S. cities, particularly around freight and last mile delivery systems. When we think about how we keep our streets safe, we must also discuss things like noise and traffic pollution, innovative policy and public planning to ensure that we can all “meet in the street”. The discussion will focus on the role of public-private partnerships in tackling these issues and highlight innovative solutions cities are adopting to improve sustainability and equity in urban transit systems.
Megan Ryerson | Chair of City and Planning, Weitzman
Tiffany-Ann Taylor | VP, Regional Plan Association
Marcus Hoed | Co-Founder, DutchX
Som Ray | Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Juliana Diquez | Southeast Lead, Via
[Panel III] The Role of Public Art in Community Transformation
This panel will explore the ways in which artists, creatives, storytellers, writers, and poets bring about societal change by taking complex problems and making them digestible and simple. We will discuss different methods through which public art beautifies spaces, builds community, and tackles large-scale problems in digestible ways. Additionally, the panel will address the significant underfunding of public art and explore innovative ways in which corporations can support this important area of work.
Yazmany Arboleda | Co-Founder, The People's Creative Institute
Kendal Henry | AC, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs
Jane Golden | Executive Director, Mural Arts Philadelphia
Aarati Cohly | Moderator and Co-Chair of FOC 2025
Jordana Leigh | Vice President, Lincoln Center
[Panel IV] Built for change: Retrofitting Cities for a Greener Future
This session will explore the transformative role of deep retrofits in existing urban buildings as a powerful approach to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while creating economic value. Panelists will examine how investing in extensive energy efficiency improvements not only aligns with global climate goals but also enhances building performance, reduces costs, and increases asset value. This conversation will bridge insights from policy, finance, and engineering, showcasing successful retrofit projects that exemplify how cities can simultaneously drive sustainability and economic growth.
William W. Braham | Director, Center for Environmental Building + Design
Rishika Ghosh | Senior Manager of Partnerships, Philadelphia Green Capital Corp
Rich Freeh | Executive Director, Green Building United
Laura Bowler | Manager, Ramboll Management Consulting
[Fireside Chat I]: Cultivating Resilience Through Regional Economies
This fireside chat will delve into regional food systems that bridge the gap between urban consumers and family farms, challenging the dominance of the corporate global food system. We'll explore the wholesale impact of local farms supplying urban grocery stores, restaurants, schools, and hospitals, and how this can redefine sustainability in urban settings. Beyond just food, we'll discuss the integration of local energy, textiles, building materials, and plant medicine into urban economies, showcasing how these initiatives offer substantial business opportunities. This session will highlight the broader benefits of these systems, including strengthening local economies, enhancing community resilience, and promoting environmental stewardship, providing a dynamic vision of how urban areas can support sustainable and equitable growth.
Valery Yakubovich | Executive Director, Mack Institute
Judy Wicks | Author, Activist, and Entrepreneur
[Fireside Chat II]: Building Philadelphia
This panel will spotlight the dynamic strategies driving the city’s growth and transformation, focusing on innovative partnerships and initiatives that foster economic development and inclusion. Featuring a diverse group of leaders with deep expertise in urban development, this panel will explore how Philadelphia is positioning itself as a hub for innovation, entrepreneurship, and equitable growth. In addition to physical development of new and emerging economic hubs around the city, this panel will explore ways that local leaders can leverage that development to “build” pathways to prosperity for city residents.
Eleanor Sharpe | Former Director of the Department of Planning & Development | City of Philadelphia
Jamie R. Gauthier | City Councilmember, Philadelphia Third District
[Fireside Chat III]: Business Models for Change
This fireside chat will highlight the innovative ways companies are embedding social impact into the core of their business models. While social impact and sustainability initiatives are often siloed or treated as check-the-box exercises, the companies featured in this discussion take a transformative approach, integrating these priorities into their strategies and operations. With insights from leaders at some of the world's leading companies, this session will explore how these trailblazing organizations align profitability with purpose. From combating child labor in the chocolate industry to advancing financial inclusion and championing sustainability in beauty, these companies illustrate how businesses can drive meaningful change while achieving sustainable growth.
Laura Rog | Chief Service Officer, City of New York
Josh Bahn | Vice President, Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group
Maggie Kervick | Global Head of Sustainability, Kiehl’s
Victoria Din | Senior Vice President, U.S. Public Sector, Mastercard
Karin Campbell | Director of Partnerships, Tony’s Chocolonely
[Fireside Chat IV]: Promoting Innovation: Life Sciences Industry
The life sciences industry is at the forefront of transformative breakthroughs in healthcare, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals. This panel will explore the essential role that real estate development plays in fostering innovation within the sector. Panelists will dive into the concept of innovation districts—designated urban areas that integrate life sciences companies, academic institutions, and startups to promote collaboration, knowledge exchange, and economic growth. Attendees will gain insights into how developing knowledge communities around life sciences hubs can revitalize cities, attract global talent, and drive sustainable innovation.
Sara Merriman | Director, Brandywine
John Grady | Senior Vice President, Wexford Sciences
Anthony Sorrentino | AVP, Office of EVP, University of Pennsylvania
[Fireside Chat V] Building Reused: Revitalizing Cities through Adaptive Reuse
Adaptive reuse is the ultimate form of urban (or suburban) recycling, breathing new life into historic structures while preserving their cultural significance. These projects require careful planning, community engagement, and thoughtful development. In this panel, industry experts will share insights from their work on adaptive reuse projects, ranging from transforming industrial buildings to public marketplaces in New York City to reimagining America’s malls. Panelists will discuss the innovative processes behind these projects and highlight the positive, lasting impact they’ve had on their communities—economically, socially, and culturally.
[Lightning Lecture]: Why you should tax land, and how you should value it
The US has a massive housing shortage, yet our cities are blighted by vacant or underutilized land. Much of this land is deliberately held idle by speculators, who will buy a vacant lot, wait for the neighborhood to gentrify, and flip the vacant lot for a profit without the speculator doing any work to increase the value of the land. What can we do about these related problems of housing shortage, blighted and underutilized land, and extractive speculation? Urban planners and economists on the left, right, and center suggest that part of the solution lies in Land Value Tax (LVT). This lightning lecture will begin with an overview of LVT from Josie Faass, Executive Director of the Progress and Poverty Institute, a foundation dedicated to researching and advancing the social and economic philosophy of LVT and related policies. The lecture will finish with a presentation by Valuebase, a startup at the forefront of property assessment technology. Valuebase recently raised $6M in funding and provides cutting-edge land and property valuations to local governments across the country. Their team is passionate about upleveling property assessment and brings a wealth of expertise in mass land and property appraisal to the table.
Josie Faass | Executive Director, Progress and Poverty Institute
Will Jarvis | Founder and CEO, Valuebase
Andy Zhang | Product and Operations lead, Valuebase
Bentley Systems x Water Center at Penn
Bentley Systems and SmartDCU will present on their digital twins for smart city innovations. This collaborative initiative aims to investigate the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and immersive digital twin technology using DCU as a city microcosm for developing intelligent and sustainable urban spaces. It strives to push the boundaries of digital twins by leveraging Insight’s AI expertise and Bentley’s advanced technology applications in a secure and controlled campus environment, helping guide cities in the strategic deployment of smart city innovations.Bentley Systems is a software development company that supports the needs of those responsible for creating & managing the world’s infrastructure. SmartDCU, or SMART Dublin City University, is a Smart Dublin District, with goal to develop, test and trial cutting-edge technology innovations in a university campus setting before scaling up to the city scale.
Urban Heat: Treepedia
Treepedia measures urban tree canopy by analyzing the amount of greenery visible from the street, rather than counting individual trees. Using a scalable and universally applicable method, Treepedia creates visualizations that capture street-level perceptions of green space—excluding parks and off-street areas. Expanding urban tree canopy helps cities reduce heat, improve air quality, and manage stormwater. To support this effort, Treepedia developed the Green View Index, a metric to evaluate and compare street-level greenery across cities. In collaboration with the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Future of Cities and the Global Shapers community, Treepedia continues to expand its database, helping cities track and enhance their urban green spaces.
Xiaojiang Li | Project Lead, Treepedia