In light of the Urban Planning Career Month, a successful Alumni Networking Event was hosted on February 21 at the Faculty House Presidential Room. Thank you to all of the participating alumni for sharing your experience with current students!

Adjunct Associate Professor Charlie Euchner led a cover letter workshop to help students structure and strengthen their cover letters for eye-catching narratives. Students had the opportunity to review their cover letter and ask questions.

Alumnus Alex Wallach (M.S. UP’ 12) hosted an AICP certification workshop for students interested in taking the AICP exam after graduation.

On February 18, former members of the New York Planning Commission gathered together to reflect on key projects during their time on the commission as well as the changes to New York City planning after 1989. At the center of the discussion was the power of planners to radically define emerging neighborhoods and to advocate for existing communities using planning tools and knowledge. Implications for future shifts in New York City planning was open for discussion.

On February 25, five panelists from the urban-tech startup sector hosted a discussion to shed light on the role of private sector innovation in urban management and its impact on changing the experience of the city. The five panelists featured: Stephen Larrick, City Success Lead at Stae, Newsha Ghaeli, President and Cofounder of Biobot Analytics, Matthew Guichard, Account Execuitve at REMIX, Dawn Miller, Head of Policy and Partnerships at Coord, and Liz Sisson, Chief Operating Officer at Urban-X. Questions of data governance and ownership were raised in discussing how technology can shape urban outcomes.

URBAN Magazine’s Spring Issue, EMERGENCE is accepting pitches until Sunday, March 1 at 11:59pm. Send your short pitch to urban.submissions@gmail.com!

A group of GSAPP students received Honorable Mention for their submission to this year’s ULI Hines Student Competition. The team included Kate Galbo (M.S. UP'20), Christine Ghossoub (M.S. UP'20), Eunji Kang (M.S. RED/M.S. UP'21), Gizem Karakoz (M.Arch/M.S. UP'22), and Joshua Shum (M.S. RED'20). Their work proposed WEcreate, a transit-oriented, mixed-use, cultural district that highlights affordable residential units, market-rate residential units, affordable office spaces, and three large cultural centers. Please find the official press release here.

Where are you from?
Memphis, Tennessee

Where did you study for your undergraduate degree? What was your major?
George Washington University, Civil-Transportation Engineering

Do you have any professional experiences?
I’ve interned with the City of Memphis, BAE Systems, Metro Washington Airports Authority, and the US House of Representatives.

Why did you choose to study at Columbia University?
I wanted to go to a school that would allow me to experience the built environment that sparked the planning field and combine it with the academic excellence of Columbia.

What is your interest within the urban planning field?
Sprawl retrofitting and shrinking city reversal

What is your dream job?
Commerical Real Estate Developer

If you could pick up a new skill in an instant what would it be?
To never forget anything I read.

Been anywhere recently for the first time?
I traveled to Israel last December- the first time I’d ever left North America.

Where are you from?
Born in Chicago, raised in Seoul, Korea

What and where did you study for your undergraduate?
Boston University, Business Management, concentrating in Finance & Marketing

Why did you choose to study at Columbia University?
NYC was a city that catered to my interests in technology and city. A lot of urbantech initiatives were happening in the city and I wanted to be part of it. Also Urban Planning program has been placing higher emphasis on urban analytics to provide students an opportunity to engage in more tech/data-oriented experience in public realm.

What has been your favorite urban planning class so far and why?
Mobility Workshop. It was a class, which students were able to discuss about different technologies and policies that are impacting the landscape of today’s city. Students were able to gain broader perspectives on potential benefits and considerations that we need to make as planners.

What is your interest within the urban planning field?
City is the largest platform that can embrace different technologies. At the same time it is the most complex system, which can cause inefficiencies in our daily lives. I wanted to understand how cities were developed and operated so that I can broaden my perspective and strengthen my domain knowledge.

What is one advice that you have for the first-years?
There are so many things to do in the City. Don’t just stay in Morningside Heights, go out and have fun.

What is your favorite spot in New York City?
Bryant Park

If you don’t have to start working right away after graduation, what would you be doing?
I want to travel Spain and walk on trail camino de Santiago

The Transportation Diversity Council (TDC) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Transportation Graduate Student Group are pleased to announce the 2020 TDC-MIT Transportation and Infrastructure Summit in Brooklyn, NY on Monday, April 20, 2020. This year’s conference features keynote presentations, panel discussions, and technical tours addressing the theme of “Navigating Organizational and Resiliency Challenges.”

The final registration deadline is Sunday, April 12, 2020, but sign up earlier to reserve your spot on a tour. Please register through the Eventbrite page here.

“Marc Norman Lecture,” Monday, March 2, 2020, Wood Auditorium
A lecture by Marc Norman, Associate Professor of Practice in Urban and Regional Planning at University of Michigan’s Taubman College, followed by a conversation with the GSAPP Housing Lab.
Marc Norman is the founder of Ideas and Action and Associate Professor of Practice at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. Teaching courses in real estate finance and economic development, he also advises municipal, private and non-profit clients on housing and development. More info

“Resisting Extortion: Victims, Criminals and Police in Latin America,” Tuesday, March 3, 2020, NYU Puck Building - 295 Lafayette Street
Why do victims of criminal extortion resist victimization in different ways? Eduardo Moncada, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Barnard College, argues that the nature of pre-existing associational institutions and whether police are autonomous from criminal actors shapes the nature and trajectory of collective responses to criminal extortion. The study compares responses to criminal extortion in Colombia, El Salvador, and Mexico.. More info

“The Fall of a Great American City, ” Tuesday, March 3, 2020, Macaulay Honors College
Journalist and author Kevin Baker believes that “New York City is in imminent danger of becoming something it has never been before: unremarkable…Even worse, it’s not something that anyone wants, except for the landlords.” His important book: The Fall of a Great American City, New York and the Urban Crisis of Affluence, is a polemic about how life in New York is rapidly changing—and not for the better. How most of us are being priced out of living here while almost everything that made the urban experience extraordinary—theaters, shops, restaurants, and every sort of affordable public amenity—is disappearing.More Info