Genie Birch

Philadelphia & New York

Eugenie L. Birch FAICP, RTPI (hon), is Lawrence C. Nussdorf Professor of Urban Research, co-director, Penn Institute for Urban Research (Penn IUR) and co-editor, City in the 21st Century series, University of Pennsylvania Press. Dr. Birch earned her Master and PhD degrees in Urban Planning from Columbia University. Dr. Birch’s has published widely on urban issues. Her most recent books are: Rebuilding Urban Places after Disaster, Lessons from Katrina (2006), Growing Greener Cities (2008), Global Urbanization (2011). Neighborhoods and Life Chances (2011), and Women’s Health and the World’s Cities (2011) co-edited with Susan Wachter and Urban and Regional Planning Reader (2009). Her articles have appeared the Journal of the American Planning Association, Journal of Planning Education and Research, Journal of Urban History, Journal of Planning History and Planning Magazine. Dr. Birch has held many leadership positions in her field and in the civic arena. She served as president, Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning; president, Society of American City and Regional Planning History; co-editor, Journal of the American Planning Association and chair, Planning Accreditation Board. She has been a commissioner, New York City Planning Commission, a member of the jury to select the designers of the World Trade Center site. She is currently chair, UN-HABITAT’s World Urban Campaign and former president, Board of Directors, Municipal Art Society of New York. Dr. Birch’s current research centers on two areas: knowledge dissemination related to urban planning and energy/sustainability and urban revitalization with a special focus on anchor institutions. Among ongoing her projects are developing knowledge-sharing platforms for energy efficient communities in Asia and energy efficient buildings in the EEB/Greater Philadelphia Innovation Cluster, the creation of a catalog of indicators of sustainable development in conjunction with the U.S. Partnership for Sustainable Communities and surveying energy issues related to food security. She has recently completed a study of universities and hospitals in the Northeast Corridor, to be published in Wachter and Zeuli, Revitalizing America’s Cities (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013). Dr. Birch lives in New York City.