Urban Public Policy: Philadelphia -- A Case Study

Catalog description

This course is designed to introduce students to a wide range of urban public policy challenges such as urban education, public safety, jobs and economic development, housing and land-use to gain an introductory understanding the basic policy frameworks associated with these challenges and the policy making process to affect these challenges, with a focus on Philadelphia and other older industrial American cities. The course relies mostly on non-academic readings to expose to examine how data, ideology, information and stakeholders influence the urban policy-making process. The course gives students practice writing effective policy memos and using data to make cogent arguments for policies. The course mid-term is a draft policy memo, and the final assignment is the final version of that memo. Students will attend one city council hearing, listen to key policy speeches of elected officials and half of the classes feature speakers with a track record of creating or implementing urban policy changes in Philadelphia.