The symposium hosts were the University of Pennsylvania School of Design and Penn Institute for Urban Research. The event was made possible through the support of the Rockefeller Foundation.

The School of Design of the University of Pennsylvania is dedicated to improving the quality of life through the design and preservation of artworks, buildings, landscapes, cities, and regions. PennDesign promotes excellence in design across a rich diversity of programs – Architecture, City Planning, Landscape Architecture, Fine Arts, Historic Preservation, Digital Media Design and Visual Studies. www.design.upenn.edu

The Penn Institute for Urban Research is a university–wide body that addresses the issues of 21st century cities locally and globally. Penn IUR believes that place matters in understanding political, social and economic phenomena and that spatially based approaches are essential to identifying contemporary urban challenges, strategies and solutions and their application to public policy. Penn IUR offers several programs to support urban-focused, cross–disciplinary instruction, research and civic engagement. www.upenn.edu/penniur

The Rockefeller Foundation was established in 1913 by John D. Rockefeller Sr. with assets of more than $4 billion, the Foundation attempts to harness the creative forces of globalization by supporting breakthrough solutions to 21st century challenges. This helps ensure that the tools and technologies that have significantly improved the human condition in many locations over the past half–century are accessible to more people, more fully, in more places–and that poor and vulnerable people are equipped to seize them. www.rockfound.org.