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JOURNAL
Welcome to the 33rd edition of Panorama!
Panorama is a curated collection of work from students in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania’s Weitzman School of Design. Each year, this publication highlights the pressing issues shaping the field, showcasing how the next generation of planners, preservationists, designers, and urbanists are thinking critically about the future of cities.
For this year’s edition, we’ve found that thinking about the future requires going “Back to Basics.” The work you read in this edition is inspired by questions that are fundamental to the field: What are the core principles that define our work? How do we reinforce the foundation of our field while adapting to new and emerging challenges?
These questions are more urgent as we – planners, preservationists, designers, and urbanists –seek to build resilient communities while grappling with climate change, housing crises, and evolving social and technological landscapes.
Through a diverse range of perspectives and research, this year’s edition explores how we can continue to connect with each other and our communities. From in-depth critiques on rolling easements to essays on the intersection of social media and planning, the contributions in this issue emphasize the necessity of both resilience and adaptation. What does it mean to build not just for today, but for the future?
Panorama 2025 also features exceptional work from Fall 2024 studio courses, including: recommendations to mitigate urban heat island effects in Boston’s Grove Hall; innovative strategies for infilling vacant lots in Detroit; and a greenbelt framework aimed at strengthening resilience in and around Dakar, Senegal. These projects highlight the ways in which planning can serve as both a tool for addressing immediate urban challenges and a framework for long-term sustainability.
As you engage with this edition of Panorama, we invite you to reflect on the foundational principles that shape your understanding of community, resilience, and progress. The future of planning can shape equitable outcomes through open conversations, shared knowledge, and collective action. We hope that by the time you turn the last page, you feel challenged, inspired, and hopeful for the future of our cities.
Megan Ryerson
Professor & Department Chair
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TEAM
Revathi V. Machan
Content Editor
Revathi (she/her) is a second-year Master of City Planning student focusing on Housing, Community, and Economic Development. She studied environmental planning during her undergrad at Rutgers and now uses that foundation to inform her current interests. Revathi’s passions are extensive, ranging from streetscape improvements to resilience planning, but they all center on one theme: incentivizing sustainability in the policy and planning world. At the moment, she’s exploring the obstacles that climate migrants face and how to connect them to the resources they need. When she’s not lost in a rabbit hole of research, you can find her working on tattoo commissions, trying to fix all her problems with a laser cutter, and exploring new restaurants in the city.
Claudia Schreier
Content Editor
Claudia (she/her) is a second-year Master of City Planning student with a focus in Smart Cities. She is passionate about emerging technologies that promote equity and sustainability in the city. Claudia holds a BS in Oceanography from the University of Delaware (Go Blue Hens!). Outside of school, she is slowly completing her mission to visit every independent coffee shop in Philadelphia.
Chuwen Zhong
Design Editor
Chuwen (she/her) is a first-year Master of City Planning student. She specializes in transportation infrastructure planning and policy, utilizing data-driven and spatial analysis methods to support policymakers in making resilient and inclusive decisions. In particular, she is passionate about exploring emerging technologies while also dedicated to enhancing safety and decarbonization through multimodal public transit systems. Guided by Vision Zero and Net Zero, she aims to drive urban transportation toward a future that is more innovative, sustainable, and equitable.
Rujie Cheng
Design Editor
Rujie (she/her) is a first-year Master of City Planning student, concentrating in Housing, Community, and Economic Development while pursuing a certificate in GIS and Spatial Analysis. With a background in Sociology from China, she is particularly interested in the interplay between the built environment and social life. In her spare time, Rujie enjoys street film photography, documenting her dreams, and listening to the tides.
Heddy Parker
Design Editor
Heddy (she/her) is a first-year Master of City Planning student, focusing in on urban development and design. Originally from San Francisco, CA, Heddy is drawn to understanding process, actor networks, and the delegation of decisions as they shape place and impact people. She aims to pursue affordable housing development, as it intersects with economic and community development at a neighborhood-scale. Outside of school, Heddy enjoys long walks in new spaces, swimming or otherwise being near water, engaging Francophone strangers in French, cooking and spending time with family and friends, and struggling through beginner Polish.
Yao Chen
Design Editor
Yao (she/her) is a first-year Master of City Planning student with a concentration in Urban Design. With a background in UD and data analysis, she is passionate about leveraging technology to enhance urban mobility and sustainability. Before coming to Penn, she led research projects on aging communities and micro-renewal strategies in Shanghai. Outside of school, Yao enjoys exploring cities through photography, making handmade noodles, perfecting her recipes, and singing her heart out.
