Fall 2025 Urban Planning Semester in Review
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FROM THE PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Wrapping up another packed semester, I want to first congratulate several students in the MSUP program for winning multiple fellowships. These include the Community Planning Fellowship of the Fund for the City of New York, Community Development Graduate Fellowship of the Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development, and New York Metropolitan Transportation Council September 11 Memorial Fellowship administered by Rutgers University. You will read about these students and their engagements in the Career Services section. We are proud of the students’ achievements.
Another special shout-out to our alumni for your accomplishments and your giving back to the program and school. As profiled in the Alumni Updates section, many of you mentor current students one-on-one, host visits organized by the program of your offices, connect with students at the program’s regular mixers here in NYC and at annual APA conferences, and contribute in other ways. I enjoyed catching up with some of you in far-flung places like Hong Kong, Riyadh, and Shanghai this year. To help us stay connected, please share updates and news when they happen, and we hope to highlight more UP alums in GSAPP communications.
Best wishes for a restful holiday season.
Weiping
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PROGRAM UPDATES
We would like to extend a warm welcome to the additional new adjunct faculty who joined us this Fall. Even Easterbrook-Dick, co-instructor for the Affordable Housing Development course, currently serves as the Deputy Director of Strada Ventures LLC. Aurash Khawarzad, teaching the Planning Methods course, is a PhD candidate in Geography at the CUNY Graduate Center and previously served as the Director of Policy and Strategy at Race Forward. Tim Yoshimura Small, an MSUP alum and teaching Introduction to Urban Data and Informatics, is a Fellow in GIS Climate & Sustainability at Bloomberg Associates.
In Spring 2026 we will welcome more colleagues to our adjunct faculty: Vijislava Cordes, Adjunct Associate Professor of Comparative Urban Policy at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, will be teaching Migrant Policy and the City. Lisa Blake, Senior Specialist, Emergency Preparedness Business Resiliency at Con Edison, and James Rausse, FAICP and Chapter Administrator of the APA New York Metro Chapter, will serve as instructors for the Mount Vernon Studio.
For the Spring, we will have three new and reimagined courses:
AI and the Future of Cities, Kate Wittels and David Gilford
This course examines how emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, automation, and digital infrastructure, are reshaping cities. Students will study the political economy of urban technology, the spatial and environmental implications of data centers and AI systems, and the changing relationships between the public sector, private firms, and communities. The course will also explore how tech-driven disruptions are influencing current and future climate, energy, and infrastructure public policy. Additional attention will be given to how AI adoption may alter patterns of work, leisure, and daily life, and what these shifts mean for real estate, public space, mobility, and local economic development. The class will be taught through case studies, guest lectures, and group projects to assess how future AI-driven behaviors could influence the form and function of the urban environment.
Migrant Policy and the City, Vijislava Cordes
This course explores theories, policies, and debates regarding migration to cities. It focuses primarily on cities in the United States (New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia), although select international examples (e.g., Montreal, Toronto, Athens) are included as well. The course starts by investigating the ethics of migration and analyzing a range of responses, and then turns to examine the role of multiethnic planning in “welcoming” cities. The subject of sanctuary is explored next, as well as the long-standing racialization and criminalization of immigrants. The final portion of the course addresses the question of city power, evaluating the case of San Francisco and the political, social, cultural, and economic incorporation of undocumented youth; and connects this to the issues of exclusion/inclusion of migrants, focusing on the cases of Athens and Toronto. The last three sessions explore the possibilities and limits of enfranchisement, urban commons, the right to the city, and abolitionism.
Quantitative Methods and Applications, Aurash Khawarzad
This course provides students with in-depth engagement on the concepts, methods, and applications of quantitative research in urban planning. Students will attend a weekly lecture and work session, where they will learn a range of statistical methods, manage data, and conduct analysis. Assignments during the semester will include weekly lab exercises and a final research paper that tests a hypothesis using quantitative techniques.
Our line-up of studios for the Spring spans Westchester, East Harlem, Ghana, and Colombia. We look forward to an exciting—and diverse—series of first-year student projects.
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FACULTY UPDATES
Matt Bauer (MSUP ‘92, MSHP '92, Adjunct Associate Professor) was profiled as a “2025 Trailblazer in Economic Development” by City & State magazine (November 3, 2025). Bauer also served as the keynote speaker for the NYU Stern School of Business Luxury & Retail Industry Conference, held on November 12, 2025.
Hiba Bou Akar, Associate Professor, organized two movie screenings this semester for students: “The Pruitt-Igoe Myth” and “A World Not Ours”.
This fall, Ebru Gencer attended a Workshop on the Impact of Climate Change in Cultural Heritage Sites of Türkiye, which was organized by Türkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Agency in partnership with the European Union. Her research center, Center for Urban Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience (CUDRR+R), contributed to the development of: Compendium of Traditional Housing Designs Incorporating Natural Cooling Techniques, and Recovery Readiness Assessment Framework, both of which were adapted during the G20 Ministerial Meetings in South Africa in October.
David Gilford, Adjunct Assistant Professor, continued to bridge technology, policy, and urban infrastructure this semester. He spoke at the Accelerator for America (AFA) Advisory Council Meeting in Nashville, where he joined mayors and elected officials from around the country to discuss emerging public-private models for local economic development. David also participated in the 2025 Urban Tech Summit at Cornell Tech, speaking at a session on “Rightsizing AI for Urban Needs and Planetary Limits.” His remarks emphasized the growing physical footprint of AI systems and the importance of aligning digital infrastructure with environmental sustainability. These perspectives will inform the course “AI and the Future of Cities,” which he is co-teaching with Kate Wittels next semester.
James Piacentini, Adjunct Assistant Professor, showcased the first in a series of cartographic artworks in his “Distorted_Cities” series at the fifteen group show at SOMMWHERE gallery. The series explores the rolling landscape of authentic and synthetic data production, manipulation, and presentation and the role of AI in undermining trust in map authorship.
Traveling to new places for research and conferences has been a great learning experience for Weiping Wu this semester. Having wrapped up and commissioned five volumes on distinct subjects for the SAGE Handbooks of Modern China Series, she has assumed the role of the Editor-in Chief, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Urban Studies. These engagements keep her active in academic communities, in addition to her administrative responsibilities.
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STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS
This semester, UP Talks held two talks with a third planned for early December. UP Talks is an informal discussion space led by peers intended to facilitate conversation on urbanism outside of the classroom. For the first UP Talks, held in early October, the students watched a short video by Hannah Kossoff (MSUP ‘26) focusing on the interaction between urban sprawl and small businesses. Over 20 peers joined for a lively discussion and Q&A with Hannah. Hoping to continue highlighting student voices, the next event featured five short presentations by MSUP students (Ellie Mclennan, Jane Hutton, Roxy Blocksdorf, Ayanna Sharma, and Hannah Kossoff) on an urbanism area of their interest; students presented on a range of topics including company towns, urban sprawl and boredom, and the importance of including queer elder voices in research and policy. UP Talks thanks everyone who has joined them so far and looks forward to the upcoming movie night and another semester of events.
Women’s Affordable Housing Network (WAHN) welcomed new leaders to their board: Naomi Jaenicke, Ayanna Sharma, Nabeeha Islam, and Isabel Lewis. Katia Rakitskaya, Saraké Dembélé and Roxy Blocksdorf continued in their leadership roles this semester as well. In November, WAHN organized an office visit to Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), where students toured the building, learned about the different departments and their scope of work, and wrapped up with a Q&A session.
LatinGSAPP has started the semester strong with new members from different GSAPP programs. Our own, MSUP first-year, Ethel Rivera has been selected as Social Events Chair and Pablo Useche, MSUP second-year, remains as Director for the student organization. Their events for the semester have been a combination of social and academic gatherings with guest speakers like Alex Hudtwalcker, architect and curator for the Peru Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
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STUDENT NEWS
On October 22, 2025, the APA New York Metropolitan Chapter held its annual conference at the NYU Kimmel Center, featuring a full day of keynotes, expert panels, and workshops with planners, policymakers, and transit professionals. The conference offered students valuable exposure to real-world planning projects, insights into current professional practices, and opportunities to build connections with practitioners across the region. Students from the Urban Planning program at GSAPP attended the full-day event, which began with a light breakfast, a keynote address, and an awards session, followed by a series of breakout panels. One of the most engaging panels focused on the updated 2025 Comprehensive Plan for Brooklyn, presented by representatives from the Brooklyn Borough President’s Office: Brit Byrd, Tal Litwin, and Spencer Williams. They described the plan as “comprehensive” because it emerged from the many existing plans and resources of NYC that already existed but were not consolidated with each other, thus they tailored one specifically for Brooklyn with some contextual spatial analysis. A particularly noteworthy insight from this panel was the reminder that “planning is a living document.” While long-term plans guide future development, they must also remain adaptable as cities evolve. This perspective reinforced the idea that planners must stay attentive to changing conditions and be prepared to revise plans in response to emerging needs to support a higher quality of urban life. Overall, the conference provided GSAPP students with meaningful knowledge, exposure, and networking opportunities. The event was a success, and we look forward to participating again next year.
A group of first-year students organized a Fall trip to Hunter Mountain, in Upstate New York, on November 14, 2025.
Through the ANHD fellowship, Saraké Dembélé was able to attend The Supportive Housing Network of New York annual event as a representative of the organization. During the event she was able to network and connect with former employers and make new connections for future projects.
Caixa Mao, UP PhD Candidate, received Sylff Research Grant as part of the Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund Program. The association was established in 1987 to help students to conduct graduate studies in humanities and social sciences. Sylff Research Grant is a program for the current doctoral students to conduct domestic or international fieldwork for the advancement of their academic research.
Students’ final projects from GSAPP Performance Zoning Clinic, led by Faculty Adam Lubinsky and Faculty Calvin Brown, were presented for Modern Architecture & Speculative Future at Northeastern University. Participating students include Zachary Rosman (MSUP ‘26) , Ayomikun Oluyadi (MSUP '26), Juan Felipe Herrera (MSRED '25), Alexandra Gonzalez (MA Climate Policy '25), and Bria Miller (MSAUD '25).
UP PhD students Samantha Saona, Mauricio Rada, and Daniela Ugas, together with faculty Hugo Sarmiento, Anthony Vanky, and Tom Slater, were awarded the Urban Studies Foundation Seminar Series Award. Their project, “Land commodification and housing affordability under capitalist urbanisation: Global dynamics and local resistance in Peru, the United Kingdom, and the United States,” examines how global forces of urban development intersect with local struggles for housing and spatial justice.
Katia Rakitskaya and Ben Schwartz joined the Rising Leaders Network of the New York Housing Conference where they became a part of the judging committee this year. New York Housing Conference is a nonprofit affordable housing policy & advocacy organization that supports decent affordable housing for all New Yorkers.
Carolyn Swope, UP PhD Candidate, held “The Evolution of Eminent Domain for “Slum” Clearance. Racial Capitalism and the Road to Urban Renewal” Lecture in Planning Series this fall. Carolyn’s dissertation, a case study drawing on qualitative and archival evidence, examines gentrification’s relationship with historical processes of dispossession, and the implications of this relationship for gentrification’s impact on low- to moderate-income Black women’s health. At this year’s Social Science History Association (SSHA) Annual Conference in Chicago, Carolyn was awarded the prestigious SSHA Founder’s Prize for her article “The Spatial Configuration of Segregation, Elite Fears of Disease, and Housing Reform in Washington, D.C.’s Inhabited Alleys” published in Social Science History 48(2). The Founder’s Prize is awarded annually for the best article published in the preceding volume year.
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CAREER SERVICES UPDATES
More than 40 alumni joined current students for an informal networking event at Sound & Fury in Downtown Brooklyn on November 21, 2025. The mixer is a great way to see old classmates, meet and network with alumni, and relax as the semester winds to a close.
We continued our office tours this semester with visits to Street Lab, HR&A, and WXY. Among the alums who helped coordinate the visits, we would like to thank the following:
One of the experiences we encourage our students to undertake while they are enrolled is spending time at an internship. See below for examples of where some of this year’s students have been working so far.
Our students continue to win important fellowships, including the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council September 11 Memorial Fellowship administered by Rutgers, The Fund for the City of New York (FCNY) Community Planning Fellowship, and the Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development (ANHD) Community Development Graduate Fellowship.
Natalie Aramendia (MSUP '27), NYMTC September 11 Memorial Fellowship (Urban Design Division, Department of City Planning). Natalie is an Urban Design Fellow with the Department of City Planning’s Urban Design Office under the NYMTC 9/11 Memorial Program. Her research investigates how elevated highway infrastructure influences access to waterfronts and public spaces across New York City. She will evaluate the broader social and physical impacts of highway infrastructure in communities from the Bronx to Brooklyn, including corridors such as the Harlem River Greenway, Jamaica Bay Greenway, and Manhattan Greenway Harlem River. Guided by NYMTC’s Regional Transportation Plan: Moving Forward, Natalie is developing a methodological framework to analyze highway typologies and support efforts to transform the spaces beneath, around, and within these infrastructures into more accessible, pedestrian-friendly environments.
Anna Carl (MSUP '26), FCNY (Queens Borough President’s Office). Anna is working with the Queen’s Borough President’s Office in conducting a land use review and needs assessment of Liberty Avenue in South Richmond Hill/Ozone Park to identify community needs and analyze current land use patterns that will inform strategies for potential development and economic growth. Liberty Avenue, which serves a large immigrant community primarily from South Asia, represents a transit-oriented corridor with potential to plan for housing and commercial growth that prioritizes the needs of the community. The project examines zoning, demographic and economic data and historical planning efforts as well as incorporating community feedback through engagement and outreach in the shaping of the neighborhood’s future.
Wayne Chen (MSUP '26), ANHD (Evergreen, Inc.)
Saraké Dembélé (MSUP '26), ANHD (Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation). Saraké Dembélé is one of the 2025-2026 ANHD Morgan Stanley fellows where for the next 10 months she will be working at Cypress Hills CDL as an asset/project manager and supporting community development for the Jewel Streets in East New York. Since being an ANHD fellow Sarake has been supporting with consolidating debt for the buildings within the portfolio and understanding the different mechanisms affordable housing developers use to operate their buildings. In addition, she’s participated in door knocking in the Jewel Street area to speak to tenants about the resilient acquisition program that HPD has proposed and collecting feedback to support with advocacy efforts. She’s also been able to join the broader conversation and attend community board meetings to hear HPD’s proposal for the transformation of this area and to hear the concerns of tenants. Recently, Saraké attended an alumni panel with previous fellows to hear about their journey within the field which was a great opportunity for her to connect with stakeholders at all levels. All in all, this opportunity has been enriching and rewarding for Saraké so far and she looks forward to the next few months ahead.
Will Harlow (MSUP '26), FCNY (Queens Queens Community Board 5)
Yan (Julia) Qian (MSUP '27 & M.Arch '27) FCNY (Manhattan Community Board 1). Julia’s project at Community Board 1 is to develop a public-facing data dashboard (including 311 complaints, crash data, and crime data) that supports more transparent, data-informed decision-making within the board, as well as an accessible reference for CB1 residents. The project involves building an automated workflow that processes, analyzes, and visualizes trends relevant to local quality of life (mainly traffic and crime). Alongside the dashboard, she will ultimately work with CB1 staff to translate dashboard information into actionable policy recommendations and establish a smooth data-to-dashboard-to-policy workflow in improving the efficiency of future decision-making.
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ALUMNI UPDATES
Myles Agudelo (MSUP ‘21) has a new job as Urban Planner at it’s electric.
Jahnavi Aluri (MSUP '17) has been promoted to Vice President of Planning & Special Projects, Downtown Jamaica Partnership.
Natalie Bartfay (MSUP '23) is now Resiliency Planner at DOT.
Tihana Bulut (MSUP '21) has been promoted to Manager of Public Partnerships and Grants at Lime.
Sean Chew (MSUP '23) was recently promoted to Senior Policy Analyst, Campus Experience & Strategy for the WTC at the Port Authority.
Avery Dement (MSUP '18) is now Deputy Director at Strada Ventures.
Ethan Floyd (MSUP '24) is Coordinator of Special Projects at BIG Bjarke Ingels Group.
Joe Huennekens (UP PhD '25) and Jenna Davis (UP PhD '23) 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 (during the previous year) that is “considered particularly outstanding as a scholarly contribution to the field of urban affairs.” They received their award in Vancouver at the UAA Annual Conference.
Evan Sweet (MSUP '17), Director of Neighborhood Planning and Development at the Meatpacking BID, worked together on the Meatpacking District’s latest planning project with Ethan Floyd (MSUP '24) Evan worked to bring the West 14th Street Promenade to life in May, collaborating with StreetPlans, Vestre, and NYCDOT to transform the roadway into a promenade for pedestrians with vibrant public amenity spaces. Ethan worked with Evan as an independent consultant to produce an urban design impact assessment for the Promenade Project, which was published in September. The report, told through a planner’s perspective, measured the impact of this first-of-its-kind streetscape investment from the BID, on the quality of public life immediately before and after the installation. It featured original research, photography, and data collection.
Chaouki El-Rassi (MSUP '19) is now Vice President of SKALE Developments in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Guilherme Rocha Formicki (MSUP '19) has completed a PhD at the University of São Paulo entitled “Social entrepreneurship in favelas and popular subdivisions: disputed territories, market knot, and new meanings for the popular in Jardim Lapenna and Jardim Ibirapuera, São Paulo.” He is also helping to organize a National Seminar on Housing Improvements. It will be held in Brasília on November 24 and 25 and will be an opportunity for government officials, civil-society organizations devoted to technical assistance in social housing, social movements, and academia to discuss and structure a national Brazilian policy for housing improvements.
Olivia Jovine (MSUP '15) took a new job as Director of Community Development Services, City of Urbana, IL.
Juhwa Jung (MSUP '20) was promoted to Head of London Office, Korean Housing Finance Corporation.
Jaron Kaplan (MSUP '25) is now a planner at the Garment District BID.
Emily Kurtz (MSUP '03), was promoted to Chief of Housing & Development Office at Riseboro.
Jessica Mathew (MSUP '15) has been made Senior Vice President for Capital Strategies & Planning at the MTA
Sarah Mawdsley (MSUP '22) has been promoted to Senior Planner II at TYLin/Sam Schwartz.
Brady Meixell (MSUP '22) has become a Senior Research Associate in the Housing and Communities Division at the Urban Institute.
Rob Nahigian (MSUP '80) is Principal at Auburndale Realty Co. He has been consulting on land use commercial/industrial uses for the Boston Planning and Development Agency, family trusts and corporations. Currently he serves on the Board of Advisors for a NYSE company. He also serves on the MA DOT Appraisal Review Board on eminent domain takings and served on the MA RE Licensing Commission on broker CE education. He has been teaching real estate development and commercial lease analysis for over 33 years at Boston University and guest lectured at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, MIT, Lehigh, and the Boston Architectural College, Suffolk, MA. He has also been awarded the James Felt Counseling Award twice as a Real Estate Counselor for having the most unique and complex real estate assignments, three times as Boston’s Commercial RE Advisor of the Year, once as Industrial Deal of the Year and as SIOR National Real Estate Instructor of the Year (five times), MA Educator of the Year (twice) and CoreNet GlobalsTop Rated Instructor
Alisa Nurmansyah (MSUP '23) is now Environmental Planner II at TYLin.
Sahra (Mirbabaee) Phillips (MSUP '17) has been made an Associate at Latham & Watkins.
Danielle Roberts (MSUP '22) has been promoted to Senior Credit Analyst, Credit & Special Underwriting at The New York City Department of Housing, Preservation, and Development.
Robert Sanchez (MSUP '23) is enrolled for a Masters in Public Policy at the University of Tokyo.
Matthew Shore (MSUP '23) has been promoted to Director of Planning & Development at South Bronx Unite.
Caroline Thompson (MSUP '21) was promoted to Associate at DLR Group.
George Todorovic (MSUP ‘16) recently completed his 3rd year as Deputy Director of the DCP Staten Island Borough Office. The DCP SI Office has been reviewing zoning compliance for upcoming developments along the North Shore which will bring affordable housing and commercial activity to an area of the Borough which has been plagued with underinvestment and stalled projects for the past decade. They are also currently completing the Great Kills Transportation Report which will identify ways to increase multi-modal transportation and pedestrian safety around the Great Kills neighborhood.
Pauline Claramunt Torche (MSUP '19) was promoted to Senior Urban Planner & Outreach Specialist at HNTB.
Akhil Vadlamudi (MSUP '25) has a new job as Poverty Research Technical Fellow at the New York City Mayor’s Office.
Miaojing Wei (MSUP '25) is an intern with the UN Office of Oversight Services.
Our mentorship program continues its successful growth thanks to our dedicated alumni mentors. If you would like to participate in the future, or would like more information, please contact Douglas Woodward at (dw38@columbia.edu)