This is an extraordinary time – my deep gratitude to many students, alums, faculty, and administrators for your compassion and support. Our students, in spite of the challenges, continue to be fully engaged in academic studies and professional endeavors. Their work will be featured in GSAPP’s End of Year Show (EOYS), in-person this time in the Urban Planning Lounge in the Fayerweather Hall and in addition to the digital platform. EOYS will open in the late afternoon of Saturday May 17 and last for about a week. I have fond memories of the EOYS in the freshly remodeled UP Lounge during the May 2019 Commencement, and hope you will come and see the student work.

While I may be lingering in the last century with social media presence, our program is visibly featured. During multiple events to welcome prospective and admitted students, I have heard about their first introductions to the program and student work through our Instagram account. Big thanks to the UP office and our group of dedicated student workers for keeping it up. Our program is home to students from an increasing range of geographies and backgrounds, from across Europe, Asia, Latin America, and now Africa. No doubt information spread through the digital sphere plays a role. With that note, I am sending my warm greetings to our alums living and working in different parts of the globe.

Take care and be well,

Weiping

On behalf of the entire UP community, we want to express our deep gratitude to several adjunct faculty who are moving on: Jit Bajpai, Emily Kurtz, Jessica Mathew, and Jamie Springer-Torres. We will miss you. Joining us in the Fall will be new colleagues including Alanna Browdy (Strategist at Gensler) and Dory Thrasher (Researcher for Mathematica Policy Research), both advising Thesis and Professional Capstones. Welcome back in your new capacity!

The inaugural cohort of UP students in the new exchange program with the Bartlett School of Planning (BSP) at University College London includes Samantha Hartono (M.S. UP ‘26) and Yerandy Pacheco (M.S. UP ‘26). They have reported excitement studying at BSP.

Our students are benefitting from events and resources available through the American Planning Association. Again, this year 15 graduating students attended the APA national conference, in Denver at the end of March. Mingling with alums from UP and other GSAPP programs was both fun and informative. Our program also organized a new event to discuss Future Trends for Planners—featured in the APA Foresight reports—and hear from Adam Freed (faculty) and Suprima Bhele (M.S. UP ‘19) about changes experienced at work. Topics included strategies for dealing with housing, energy, and healthcare challenges, the role of planning for the green transition, and the effects of geopolitical turbulence and AI on planning.

Ebru Gencer’s Research Center for Urban Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience (CUDRR+R) was invited to become a member of the G20 Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). She will join the G20 group’s meeting during the UN Global Platform on DRR in Geneva in June. Ebru Gencer also recently joined the Strategic Oversight Board of UK’s Research and Coordination Hub on Building a Secure and Resilient World. This April, she was a panelist at the Infrastructure Security: Keeping our Cities Running webinar organized by UK’s Institute of Strategic Risk Management. She is also organizing and will be a panelist at the Columbia University Event: Building Back Better in Hatay: Lessons on Urban Resilience.

David Gilford, Adjunct Assistant Professor, participated in several events this semester at the intersection of infrastructure, technology, and policy. In January, David spoke about innovation in public-private partnerships at the U.S. Conference of Mayors, where he serves as the P3 Task Force’s founding advisory board member. He also moderated the first Twin Talks NYC, joining Amtrak’s Andy Byford and Gateway Development Commission’s Patrick McCoy to explore the role of smart, resilient transit infrastructure in economic growth and environmental resilience. David also recently joined the Path to Zero podcast, discussing his work, including virtual power plants and new approaches to data centers’ AI-fueled growth.

Jonathan Stiles, Visiting Assistant Professor, published an article, “The Most Necessary Nuisance: How Gasoline and Commercial Garages Shaped Early American Zoning” in the Journal of Planning History.

Jose Luis Vallejo, Adjunct Associate Professor, was recently invited to serve as a guest professor at Escola da Cidade in São Paulo, where he delivered a lecture on his professional work and taught as part of the 19th International Seminar “Campo das Águas”, which focused on the design of public spaces along São Paulo’s riverbanks. He was awarded the LAND Award by the Isaac W. Bernheim Foundation for the design of a site-specific installation at the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest in Louisville, Kentucky. He and his firm, Ecosistema Urbano, were invited by the Dutch social venture Shift to take part in an international competition to design a landmark aimed at promoting climate action and public engagement in the Netherlands. Currently, Vallejo and his team are leading urban transformation projects in Santiago de Chile, Maputo (Mozambique), and Boston’s Chinatown. In addition, he has been invited to participate in the upcoming lecture series “Intersections: Architecture of the 21st Century” at the Instituto Cervantes in Berlin, where he will present his interdisciplinary design research and practice.

The Urban Affairs Association Recognitions Committee has selected Weiping Wu for induction into the Distinguished Service Honor Roll, for her many years of commitment and service to the Association. She also has been invited to join the APA Task Force on Integrating Foresight into Planning Curricula, to discuss the gap between university curricula and the foresighted content APA has been sharing.

This spring, Urban Planning students Katia Rakitskaya (M.S. UP ‘26), Sarake Dembele (M.S. UP ‘26) and Roxy Blocksdorf (M.S. UP ‘26) launched Columbia University’s chapter of the Women’s Affordable Housing Network (WAHN), a national nonprofit promoting the advancement and leadership of women working in the affordable housing industry. The student-led organization is based in the Urban Planning program and aims to build cross-disciplinary connections across the university. The kickoff meeting brought together students from Urban Planning, Architecture, Real Estate, and other programs for an engaging conversation on what affordable housing is, how to navigate NYC’s Housing Connect platform, and ways to get involved. WAHN at Columbia will support students interested in affordable housing careers through industry news, job leads, and networking, site and office visits, speaker panels, mentorship opportunities, and more.

This semester, URBAN Magazine launched its 35th Volume, “Futures.” URBAN is proud to feature 22 contributors whose pieces were reviewed by an internal team of 14 editors. Contributors this year span every single program in GSAPP. URBAN launched the print magazine officially on April 18 and expects to publish the digital copy very soon. They are excited for their talented team of editors to begin brainstorming for what next year’s edition of URBAN might look like!

This spring, the Urban Observation Society continued its mission to explore and document the city’s evolving dynamics. In February, the group visited Gotham Hall in New York City, formerly the historic Greenwich Savings Bank building. The visit provided a unique opportunity to observe how the grandeur of early 20th-century financial architecture has been thoughtfully repurposed into a contemporary event space, reflecting broader patterns of adaptive reuse across the city. Founded as a platform for students to engage with New York’s complex urban fabric outside the classroom, the Urban Observation Society invites students to observe, reflect, and capture the essence of the city’s built environment. This year’s leadership team includes Reina Dissa (M.S. UP ‘25), Daniel Xu (M.S. UP '25), Aistyara Charmita (M.S. CCCP '25), Anisa Chandra (M.S. UP '25), Rita Kartika (M.S. UP '25), and Julian Krusic O’Donnell (M.Arch '26). We look forward to continuing to explore new sites and city dynamics together in the coming year.

Mateo Alexander (M.S. UP ‘25) is currently a Community Planning Fellow through the Fund for the City of New York.

Atsede Assayehgen (M.S. UP '25) is currently an ANHD Community Development Graduate Fellow. Her host organization is MHANY Management, Inc.

Jenna Davis (PhD 2023) and Joe Huennekens (PhD Candidate) have won the 2025 Best Article in the Journal of Urban Affairs Award for their paper, “YIMBY Divided: A Qualitative Content Analysis of YIMBY.” This annual award from the Urban Affairs Association gives recognition to a paper published in the Journal of Urban Affairs that is “considered particularly outstanding as a scholarly contribution to the field of urban affairs.” They received their award in Vancouver on April 16th, at the UAA Annual Conference.

Sarake Dembele (M.S. UP '26) is currently interning at WSFSSH (West Side Federation For Senior and Supportive Housing) as a housing development intern. She is also the vice president of WAHN (Women in Affordable Housing Network)

Caixia Mao (PhD Candidate) was awarded a grant from the Center for Political Economy for her project, titled Fragile Techno-political Machine: (Dis)entanglement of Chinese and Japanese infrastructure assemblages in Indonesia.

Elizabeth Oh (M.S. UP '26) spoke at the New York City book launch of The Sustainability Class as the Campaign Manager of New Yorkers for Transportation Equity.

Mauricio Rada Orellana (PhD Student) has been awarded a prestigious Conference of Latin American Geography (CLAG) Field Study Grant, which will assist with fieldwork during the next academic year. He is also a recipient of the Institute for Latin American Studies Pre-Dissertation Field Research Travel Grant.

Daniela Perleche (PhD Student) received the Institute for Latin American Studies Pre-Dissertation Field Research Travel Grant.

Adrienne Roberson (M.S. UP & MBA ‘26) was awarded a $15,000 scholarship from Women Executives in Real Estate.

Samantha Saona (PhD Student) has been awarded a prestigious Conference of Latin American Geography (CLAG) Field Study Grant, which will assist with her fieldwork in Lima during the next academic year.

Sherry Aine Chuang Te (M.S. UP & M.Arch ‘25) was named in Metropolis Magazine’s Future100: Architecture Graduates list and was nominated by faculty Lola Ben-Alon.

Miaojing (Mina) Wei (M.S. UP ‘25) joined the American Association of Geographers Annual conference with her research “Machine Learning Approach for Urban Heat Prediction.”

A team of Urban Planning students, joined by collaborators from other GSAPP programs, submitted a proposal to the 2025 ULI Hines Student Competition this winter. The team included Katia Rakitskaya (M.S. UP '26), Quncie Williams (M.S. UP '28), David Ni (M.S. UP & M.S. RED '26), Jahlik Parkes (M. S. AUD '25), and Jennifer Marcos (M.Arch & M.S. RED '25), with guidance from faculty advisors Douglas Woodward and Brian Loughlin.

Students from both classes have profited from real-world experience at planning organizations during the semester and have been offered opportunities for the coming summer. Here is a selection of places they have worked this year and will soon be working over the summer:

• Ryan Clark (M.S. UP ‘25), Downtown Brooklyn Alliance
• Jane Cole (M.S. UP ‘25), WXY
• Sarake Dembele (M.S. UP ’26), WSFSSH
• Steven Duncan (M.S. UP ’25), Gensler
• Otis Emslie (M.S. UP ‘25), BJH
• Christian Harvey (M.S. UP ’26), Mellon Foundation
• Jaron Kaplan (M.S. UP ‘25), Garment District Alliance
• Suheyla Kipcakli (M.S. UP ’25), The Mega-Cities Project, Inc.
• Olivia McCloy (M.S. UP ‘25), WSP
• Ellie Maclennan (M.S. UP ’26), Gensler
• Ava Miller (M.S. UP ’26), AKRF
• August Nastasi (M.S. UP ‘25), Urban Cartographics
• Saumil Sanghav (M.S. UP ‘25), Equitable Cities
• Talya Soytas (M.S. UP ’26), NYC Department of Design and Construction
• Andrea Sze (M.S. UP ‘25), TYLin

This semester, first-year students participated in five studios from the very local (Harlem, Manahatta, and Washington Heights) to the international (Barcelona and Santiago de Chile). Here is the line-up, followed by photos encapsulating their travels and research:

• Home in Manahatta: Planning to Affirm the Continued Lenape Presence in Lenapehoking, Anthony Borelli & Sybil Wa

• Revitalizing Ciutat Vella, Barcelona for a Just and Green Urban Future, Ebru Gencer & Ubaldo Escalante

• Planning for Change in Renca, Santiago de Chile, Jose Luis Vallejo & Ryan Devlin

• Addressing Affordable Housing Challenges in Washington Heights, Ali Estefam & Michael Perles

• Performance Zoning in Central Harlem: A Physical Analog to a Democratic Process, joint Real Estate/Urban Planning studio, Adam Lubinsky & Calvin Brown

UP Career Services offers support with professional development, internships, jobs, mock interviews and other interview prep, and advice on constructing resumes, cover letters, and negotiating salaries

Many thanks to those students who contributed their resumes to the Resume Book for 2024-2025 edition. It was shared with interested employers who requested a copy and we gave many out at the Career Fair. Thanks to Talya Soytas (M.S. UP ’26) who worked on assembling this year’s book. Our Spring alumni/student mixer at Row House was a success and we once again partnered at the mixer with URBAN Magazine’s launch party. Congratulations to the graduating Senior Editors, Jaron Kaplan (M.S. UP ‘25), Jane Cole (M.S. UP ‘25), and Jessica Gonzales (M.S. UP ‘25) and to those from this year’s group of contributors who attended.

Our 2025 Career Fair in February at Faculty House attracted over 60 firms in Urban Planning, Architecture, Urban Design, Historic Preservation, Computational Design, and adjacent disciplines. We are beginning to see the results of these vital contacts in interviews, internships, and job offers. Our students also had the opportunity to attend the All-Ivy Climate Career Fair, hosted at Lerner Hall, and the New York City Internship Fair, a new event with 80 New York City agencies looking to fill internship slots.

Alyana Acacio (M.S. UP ’24) is a Project Manager at NYC Health and Hospitals.

Christian Budow (M.S. UP ’23) is an Operations Planning and Simulation Analyst at Hatch, Vancouver.

Capucine Chesnier (M.S. UP ‘23) is a Sustainability Specialist at Hermès.

Stacey Chui (M.S. UP & M.S. RED ’23) is an Assistant Manager for Masterplanning and Hospitality at Square 8, Hong Kong.

Aleene Farishta (M.S. UP ’14) is the Director of Brooklyn Planning at NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

Ethan Floyd (M.S. UP ’24) is a Special Projects Coordinator at Diamond Schmitt Architects.

Jennifer Jacobs Guzmán (M.S. UP ’07) is the Executive Director of Strategic Operations and Policy at the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

Margaret Hanson (M.S. UP ’23) is a Program Manager at Center for NYC Neighborhoods.

Soichiro Harada (M.S. UP ’24) is a Designer at BIG—Bjarke Ingels Group.

Niew Holmes (M.S. UP ’24) is a Green Infrastructure Program Coordinator at the NYC Department of Environmental Protection.

Hao Che Huang (M.S. UP ’23) is a Transportation Analyst at Toole Design. Hao Che and Varisa Tanti (M.S. UP ’23) have formed an urban data art collective called ‘dot fill/na’ and have been selected as members of New Inc Year 11 in the Social Architecture track. Their installation will be featured at the New Inc Demo2025 exhibition in June.

Ruju Joshi (M.S. UP ’24) is now a Project Manager at Melissa Johnson.

Thiago Lee (M.S. UP & M.Arch ’23) is a Junior Designer at rePLACE Urban Studio.

Victoria Lin (M.S. UP ’23) is an immigrant Consultant at Thomas Wang and Associates.

Sharon Mathews (M.S. UP ’24) has been appointed as an Adjunct Lecturer at the Columbia Climate School. She is an Analyst at Karp Strategies.

Sarah Mawdsley (M.S. UP ’22) is a Transportation Planner II at TYLin.

Fukunda Mbaru (M.S. UP & MBA, ’24) is a Business Analyst at ICNCLST.

Kaylee Moon (M.S. UP ’16) is a Senior Urban Designer and Planner at TYLin.

Alex Moscovitz (M.S. UP ’19) has been promoted to Deputy Director of Capital Planning and Support at the NYC Department of City Planning.

Alisa Nurmansyah (M.S. UP ’23) is an Environmental Planner at TYLin.

Emilia Del Rosario-Baca (M.S. UP ’78) is a Manager at Prediceperu SAC.

Alberto Rosario-Pichardo (M.S. UP ‘24) is a Geospatial Analyst at NYC Economic Development Corporation.

Erik Strand (M.S. UP ‘22) has been promoted to Senior Associate, Data at Karp Strategies.

Pauline Claramunt Torche (M.S. UP '19) is a Senior Vice President and Outreach Specialist at HNTB.

Sofia Vala (M.S. UP ’23), is a Transportation Planner with the Mayor’s Office of Prague, leading the research and development of Prague’s Curb Space Manual while also representing the city in an EU Horizon Research & Innovation Program grant project aimed at enhancing logistics efficiency in European cities.

Matt Viggiano (M.S. UP ’10) is a Senior Advisor at NYC Department of Administrative Services.

We would like to thank the following alumni who participated in our Career Fair, the GSAPP reception at the APA Conference in Denver, and the Spring Alumni/Student Networking Mixer:

• Sarah Abdallah (M.S. UP ’23)
• Alyana Acacio (M.S. UP ’24)
• Ana Maria Arpi (M.S. UP ’24)
• Justin Barton (M.S. UP ’21)
• Becca Book (M.S. UP & M.Arch ‘17)
• Dare Brawley (M.S. UP ’20)
• Will Cao (M.S. UP & M.Arch ’24)
• Gillian Connell (M.S. UP & M.S. HP ’10)
• Teona Cooksey (M.S. UP & M.Arch ’24)
• Eliza Dekker (M.S. UP ’23)
• Donnie Donato (M.S. UP ’24)
• Nan Ellin (PhD UP ‘00)
• Yuning Feng (M.S. UP & MPH ’22)
• Shannon Hui (M.S. UP ’24)
• Candice Ji (M.S. UP ‘23)
• Ruju Joshi (M.S. UP ’24)
• Dhwani Laddha (M.S. UP ’24)
• Moses Levich (M.S. UP ’22)
• Sharon Mathews (M.S. UP ’24)
• Joe McKenzie (M.S. UP ’17)
• Michael Phillips (M.S. UP ’16)
• William Reis (M.S. UP ‘19)
• Zeineb Sellami (M.S. UP ’21)
• Marcel Subert (M.S. UP ’24)
• Amalia Sutherland (M.S. UP ’24)
• Emily Tolbert (M.S. UP ’20)
• Mia Winther-Tamaki (M.S. UP ’23)