Penn Institute for Urban Research

🌆📄 New in the SSRN Urban Research eJournal: The #UrbanGreening Paradox: Measuring the Day–Night Perceived Safety Divergence from Nighttime Street View Images Using Scalable Generative AI What happens to neighborhood safety after dark? A new study in the SSRN Urban Research eJournal, led by Jiajing Dai (University of Pennsylvania) with collaborators from The University of Hong Kong, Cornell University, and the University of Bath, reveals how AI can illuminate the hidden geography of nighttime urban experience. Despite the growing use of street view images in urban studies, citywide nighttime imagery is largely unavailable, limiting our understanding of safety perceptions after dark. This paper tackles that gap using paired day–night street view images from U.S. and Chinese cities to test the reliability and transferability of day-to-night (D2N) generative models. Key findings include: 🔹 Model Reliability: Mainstream GenAI models reliably converged using ~2,000 paired day–night images—a scalable threshold for large-area analysis. 🔹Cross-City Transferability: U.S.-trained models outperformed Chinese-trained ones, suggesting that urban design norms and visual cues embedded in American planning ideology affect how models learn nighttime environments. 🔹The “Urban Greening Paradox”: Vegetation boosts in daytime perceived safety but reduces perceived safety at night, when visibility and human activity patterns shift. 🔹What Shapes Safety Perception: Daytime = Visibility, openness, and greenery dominate. Nighttime = Human presence and lighting become critical; trees and buildings play a universal role, while the effect of sky visibility diverges sharply between U.S. and Chinese cities. A Boston case study shows sharp, block-by-block declines in perceived safety after dark. The study presents a novel GenAI + GeoAI framework for mapping nighttime safety at scale, supporting more inclusive, data-driven planning of parks, streets, and public spaces. 🔗 Read the full paper: https://lnkd.in/eZA2Bn6V ✍ Subscribe to the SSRN Urban Research eJournal: https://lnkd.in/eWSCNErC

🏘️ How the AI boom is reshaping the US housing market A new Bloomberg Businessweek feature by Laura Bliss draws on S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller data and expert insight from Penn IUR Co-Director Susan Wachter of The Wharton School to explain why national home-price #appreciation decelerated from 1.5% in August to 1.3% in September. Wachter points to AI-driven shifts in the labor market. Even as #AIinvestment boosts the stock market and headline economic growth, job cuts and slower hiring in major sectors are cooling #housing demand. According to Wachter: 🔹 Buyer hesitancy is rising as workers worry about “what’s next” in an AI-transformed economy. 🔹 This labor-market uncertainty is now directly contributing to buyer resistance, especially among younger and first-time buyers. 🔹 At the same time, AI-fueled economic strength is holding prices up, creating a tension that defines today’s housing dynamics. Wachter calls this a clear illustration of the K-shaped economy: 📈 Wealthier households continue purchasing despite high prices and limited inventory 🔒 Many others remain locked out due to wages that can’t keep pace with costs and fears of employment instability. Her analysis helps explain why prices are rising slowly despite weakening demand, and why 2026 home values hinge so heavily on whether employment remains stable. 🎁 🔗 Read the full Bloomberg feature for a look at how AI is reshaping the housing market from both the top and bottom of the K: https://lnkd.in/eM7yHhVj

❄️ Holiday Sale at Penn Press - 40% Off! Looking for timely, insightful reads on cities, equity, and urban innovation? University of Pennsylvania Press is offering 40% off most titles through December 31, including many books from Penn IUR’s City in the 21st Century series, edited by Dr. Eugenie Birch and Dr. Susan Wachter. Featured titles include: • The award-winning Underground: Dreams and Degradations in Bucharest by Bruce O'Neill • Equality and the City: Urban Innovations for All Citizens by Enrique Penalosa Peñalosa Londoño • Perspectives on Fair Housing, edited by Vincent Reina, Wendell Pritchett, and Susan M. Wachter, with contributions from MARC MORIAL This is a great opportunity to expand your urban library or share a thoughtful gift with fellow urbanists. 🔗 Explore the series and support your academic press at pennpress.org: https://lnkd.in/e2bN-rCb 🎁 Enter code PENN-HOLIDAY25 at checkout for your 40% discount Plus: Free shipping on orders over $40! #PennIUR #PennPress #UrbanResearch #HolidaySale #UrbanBooks

🔮 Save the Date: Outlook for 2026 Special Briefing | Outlook for 2026: How States & Cities Will Adapt to Wrenching Change 📅Tuesday, December 16, 2025 | 11:00 AM ET As the nation confronts the fallout from a record-long federal government shutdown and escalating congressional gridlock following the passage of the "One Big Beautiful Bill" Act, U.S. states, counties, and cities are bracing for a year of profound adjustment. Join the Penn Institute for Urban Research and The Volcker Alliance for an expert-driven conversation examining what lies ahead. Our panel will examine: 🔹 The 2026 economic outlook 🔹Prospects for additional Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts 🔹The impact of sweeping reductions in Medicaid and other federal programs 🔹Turmoil in municipal and treasury bond markets as federal deficits accelerate short-term borrowing Confirmed Speakers: -Matt Fabian, Partner, Municipal Market Analytics, Inc. -Eric Kim, Senior Director, U.S. Public Finance Ratings, Fitch Ratings -Allison Schrager, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute -Torsten Slok, Partner & Chief Economist, Apollo Global Management, Inc. 🎙️ Moderators: Bill Glasgall, Volcker Alliance Public Finance Adviser & Penn IUR Fellow Susan Wachter, Co-Director, Penn Institute for Urban Research; The Wharton School Professor of Real Estate & Finance 🔗 Register: https://lnkd.in/emYZh6PU

The Pennsylvania Housing Explorer, a collaboration between Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency and Housing Initiative at Penn, was updated today! The updated dashboard includes new data to understand residential permitting and the breakdown of homeownership by race and ethnicity. Counties with high shares of new residential permits approved compared to the existing housing stock tended to be in urban areas. 💻 Check the dashboard out here: https://lnkd.in/ezUFhtez

🔥 Climate risk is reshaping America’s housing market New research from Penn IUR Faculty Fellow Ben Keys of The Wharton School, covered in the New York Times, shows how rising home insurance premiums are eroding property values in the nation’s most disaster-prone areas. Analyzing 74 million housing payments from 2014–2024, Keys and coauthor Philip Mulder find that a climate-driven “reinsurance shock” has already: 📉 Lowered home values by an average of $43,900 in the most hurricane- and wildfire-exposed ZIP codes. 💵 Added thousands of dollars to annual premiums for families from Louisiana to Colorado. In places like Lafitte, La., homeowners now face soaring insurance bills, shrinking buyer pools, and difficult decisions about whether they can afford to stay. Keys notes: “We are living in a much riskier world than we were 25 years ago. And that risk? Homeowners have to pay for it.” Policymakers and communities need to identify the real economic stakes of climate change. Elevating data-rich evidence like Keys' and Mulder's helps to understand where the risks are and what they could mean for the future of American homeownership. 🔗 Read more in The New York Times' interactive piece: https://lnkd.in/e5-_HX8Y 📑 The dataset on National Bureau of Economic Research: https://lnkd.in/empMgk5a [registration required to download] #ClimateRisk #HomeValues #HomeInsurance #HousingMarket #PennResearch

Great analysis on the extent of the commodification of land and housing from Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Corporate investment is turning housing into a subscription service.

🔎 What do we know about the preservation needs of federally subsidized affordable housing in Philadelphia?   Our new report, "The State of Subsidized Housing in Philadelphia" finds that almost 500 properties with nearly 35,000 units are directly subsidized by federal housing programs in Philadelphia. In the next ten years, more than a quarter of the current subsidized housing stock is at risk of losing affordability - and nearly 30% of subsidized housing properties at risk of expiration are in census tracts where rents, home values, and incomes have all increased more than the citywide value.   Read the report here: https://lnkd.in/eNbNKkY4

📣 Penn IUR (via Leslie Richards) is #Hiring: Part-Time Program Director opening (6-month term) 🌐 Remote Eligible Just posted: A Part-Time Program Director opening (6-month term) for the new Transportation Initiative at Penn (#TRIP), led by former PennDOT and SEPTA Chief Leslie S. Richards, now a Professor of Practice at University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design. Housed within the Penn Institute for Urban Research, TRIP connects Penn’s academic expertise to the urgent challenges of building sustainable, equitable, and innovative transportation systems. This role is ideal for a mid-career professional looking to shape impactful, cross-sector work at the intersection of research, policy, practice, and education. What You'll Do • Strategic Development: Partner with TRIP’s Director to build and implement a strategic plan across research, policy engagement, education, and outreach. • High-Level Convenings: Lead planning for conferences, roundtables, and symposia with leaders in government, business, academia, and philanthropy. • Policy Research & Publications: Produce and manage policy briefs, applied research reports, and other publications that translate research into actionable insights. • Partnership & Donor Engagement: Cultivate relationships with sponsors, collaborators, and external partners to support TRIP’s mission. • Communications & Visibility: Develop digital and print content, shape TRIP’s communications strategy, and support media outreach. • Funding Support: Assist with grant proposals, sponsorship materials, and reporting. • Operational Coordination: Manage project timelines, scheduling, and budgeting with Penn IUR administrative staff. What We’re Looking For ✔️ 5–7 years of relevant experience (7–10 preferred) in transportation, infrastructure, urban policy, or applied research ✔️ Proven success managing complex programs, partnerships, and convenings ✔️ Excellent writing, editing, and communication skills ✔️ Ability to engage senior public- and private-sector leaders ✔️ Commitment to innovation, sustainability, and equity in transportation 📍 Location: Part-time, remote-eligible 🗓️ Term: Through 6/19/26 📄 Apply with a cover letter + CV 🔗 Ref #JR00114261 https://lnkd.in/erB4JFJw Please spread the word! #PennIUR #Hiring #Transportation #UrbanResearch #Mobility