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We are the Department of Urban Studies + Planning at MIT's School of Architecture and Planning (@mitsap)

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The Secretary of Sedurb, Júlio Langbeck @juliolangbeck, along with the technical team from the social, environmental, and engineering areas of UGPE, received a delegation of researchers from the Núcleo Arquitetura na Amazônia - Nama, led by Professor Marcos Cereto @mcereto from the Federal University of Amazonas (@ufam__, in post-doctoral research at FAU-USP), the Brazilian architect Angelo Bucci @oangelobucci, professor at the Department of Architecture of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), as well as researchers Isabella de Bonis (@isabelladebonis_ Nama/FAU USP), Alex Martins (@alex.cmatos Unifesp/FAU USP), Ana Marina Costa (@anamarinacosta FAU USP), and Christian Nascimento Campos (@ccn_campos FAU USP).

During the meeting, the results of the Prosamim and Prosamin+ Programs (current stage of the initiative) were presented. Afterwards, the delegation carried out a technical visit to the program's intervention areas, learning about the solutions adopted in urbanization, housing, sanitation, and environmental recovery, in an exchange of experiences on urban requalification and sustainable development.

Ufam, USP, and MIT have been conducting research, exchanges, and academic work together since 2020, along with Nama and The City Infrastructure Equity Lab with Prof.Gabriella Carolini MIT/DUSP with the aim of qualifying architecture in the Amazon. The search for sustainable alternatives for infrastructure, as well as research on solutions to mitigate the impacts of architecture and infrastructure projects in the face of climate challenges, motivated this first contact to learn about and recognize the excellent work developed by Prosamim for over two decades, with significant results in quality of life and health indices.

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Chris Zegras, professor of mobility and urban planning and outgoing head of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning (@mitdusp), has been appointed CEO and Director of the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), effective September 1.

Established in 2007 in collaboration with Singapore's National Research Foundation, SMART is MIT's only research center outside the United States, bringing together leading experts from the U.S., Singapore, and the broader region across six interdisciplinary research groups spanning antimicrobial resistance, AI and emerging technologies, agricultural innovation, and more.

Zegras brings deep familiarity with SMART's mission. From 2010 to 2020, he served as a principal investigator and later lead principal investigator on SMART's Future Urban Mobility interdisciplinary research group, which spearheaded Singapore's first public autonomous vehicle trials and developed large-scale urban simulation and visualization systems that evolved into spinoff companies.

"Having experienced firsthand what this distinctive model can achieve," Zegras says, "I look forward to building on this strong foundation to deepen collaboration, strengthen our innovation ecosystem, and accelerate the translation of research into meaningful real-world impact."

🔗 More at the link in bio.

@mit @mitsap @mitdusp Chris Zegras stands in a protected bike lane on a city street lined with modern buildings, parked cars, and bicycle infrastructure. A cyclist rides past in the background as Zegras faces the camera, highlighting an urban environment designed to accommodate multiple modes of transportation.

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📚 Summer reading, SA+P edition.

Each year, MIT invites its community to share what they are reading and writing. Here is a look at recent & forthcoming work from SA+P faculty, researchers, & staff.

📘 Henry Lieberman (CSAIL, formerly Media Lab) contributed a chapter to Usability for the World: Sustainable Cities, exploring user-centered design principles for urban planning

📘 Karrie G. Karahalios, Prof. of Media Arts & Sciences at the ML, is among the authors of Auditing AI, a roadmap for auditing AI systems in healthcare, policing, & employment

📘 Alex Pentland, Prof. at the ML, authored Shared Wisdom: Cultural Evolution in the Age of AI, exploring how AI can support human deliberation

📘 Jason Jackson, Associate Prof. of Political Economy & Urban Planning at DUSP, has 2 new books: Traders, Speculators, & Captains of Industry + Constructing Economic Nationalisms in Brazil and India, examining foreign investment and economic policy

📘 Brent D. Ryan, MIT Vice Provost & Prof. of Urban Design and Public Policy, co-edited Small-Town Renaissance, on digital transformation in rural regions

📘 Elisabeth Reynolds, Prof. of the Practice at DUSP, edited Priority Technologies, presenting a roadmap for US leadership in emerging technologies

📘 Delia Wendel, Associate Prof. of Urban Studies & International Development at DUSP, authored Rwanda's Genocide Heritage, exploring preservation, memory, & reparative historiography

📘 Rosalyn Shieh, Assistant Prof. in Architecture, co-authored Blanking, translating studio exchanges into written form across architecture and urbanism

📘 Miho Mazereeuw, Associate Prof. of Architecture and Urban Studies & Planning, authored Design Before Disaster, a framework for disaster preparedness based on lessons from Japan

And 2 works of fiction & poetry:

📘 Sarah C. Beckmann, Comms & Marketing Associate at MIT, published The Race for Daphne, a poetry collection exploring girlhood, womanhood, & motherhood

📘 Scott Austin Tirrell, Director of Administration & Finance at ACT, published Jezelle: Thief of Forks, a fantasy novel

🔗 in bio

@mit @mitsap @mitarchitecture @mitdusp @mitmedialab @mit_lcau @actmit Text tile with books and bright colors and geometrical shapes stating: "Looking for your next summer read? Explore a selection of books published over the past year by MIT faculty and staff."

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As MIT's Special Program for Urban and Regional Studies (SPURS) approaches its 60th year, its leaders are reshaping the curriculum to meet the moment.

SPURS, housed in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning (@mitdusp), has brought more than 800 mid-career professionals from 130 countries to MIT over nearly six decades, each spending a year studying, researching, and building connections across the U.S. urban planning and policy ecosystem. The program is now leaning further into MIT's core strength, refocusing its curriculum around technology policy and how emerging technologies are reshaping urban planning and development worldwide.

This year's cohort reflects that breadth. Fellows include an electrical engineer helping shape Angola's national space strategy for the next decade, a Moroccan architect working on the planning and governance of a 300,000-resident eco-city currently under construction outside Casablanca, and a former fellow from Argentina who now travels with MIT D-Lab students to implement building weatherization technologies in low-income communities across Latin America.

"Programs like SPURS play a vital role in connecting the resources of a world-class university with talent from around the world," says SPURS Director Bish Sanyal. "We attract and cultivate the kind of leaders that we need in the world today."

As the program looks toward its next 60 years, it is also building a more diverse base of philanthropic and institutional support to strengthen its global partnerships and alumni network.

🔗 More at the link in bio.

@mit @mitsap @mitdusp Group portrait of the 2025–26 MIT SPURS cohort and program leaders standing on the steps outside an MIT building with large stone columns. The group of fellows, representing a range of countries and backgrounds, are dressed in both professional and traditional attire, with three participants seated in the front row and the others standing behind them, smiling toward the camera.

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A new design can provoke resistance before it changes what comes next.

In a new opinion piece for The New York Times (@nytimes), Carlo Ratti (@carlorattiassociati) — Professor of Practice of Urban Technologies and Planning at MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning (@mitdusp) and director of the Senseable City Lab (@senseable_city_lab) — reflects on the debate surrounding Ferrari’s first electric vehicle, the Luce.

Ratti argues that moments of disruption have long shaped the history of design. Chrysler’s aerodynamic 1934 Airflow was initially criticized before influencing automotive engineering; other experiments, from the minivan to the Fiat VSS, challenged expectations about what vehicles could become.

For Ratti, the Luce arrives at a transformative moment for mobility. Electrification and autonomy could reshape not only how cars are powered, but how they are designed — from weight distribution and cabin layouts to the assumptions behind why cars look the way they do.

“All design is a quarrel between two impulses: the wild idea and the cold edit,” Ratti writes. “Let Ferrari thrive despite its Luce moment, a nod to the messy, glorious struggle of human innovation.”

📰 Read the full op-ed in The New York Times.
📸 Image credit: Ferrari Press Office, via Agence France-Presse

@mit Text tile "Building the cars of the future demands that we expand our imagination," attributed to MIT Professor Carlo Ratti. Shows a collage featuring light blue Ferrari Luce concept car with a black roof parked on a concrete driveway outside a modern building, surrounded by trees.

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Jinhua Zhao MCP '04, SM '04, PhD '09 has been appointed head of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning (@mitdusp), effective July 1.

Zhao, the Class of 1941 Professor of Cities and Transportation, is a global authority on mobility whose research has shaped policy for Transport for London, the Mass Transit Railway in Hong Kong, Japan Railways, and leading U.S. transit authorities including the MBTA, the Chicago Transit Authority, and Washington's Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. At MIT, he founded the MIT Mobility Initiative and directs the JTL Urban Mobility Lab, which unites behavioral science and transportation technology to shape travel behavior and improve transportation policy.

His work sits at the intersection of disciplines that rarely speak to each other directly: AI, behavioral science, public policy, and urban planning. That breadth, and his ability to move between research and real-world implementation, is precisely what makes him well suited to lead the department at this moment.

"Every city I've worked with faces the same tension," Zhao says. "The technology is moving faster than the institutions designed to govern it. My work has been about closing that gap."

Zhao succeeds Professor Christopher Zegras, who has served as department head since 2020.

🔗 More at the link in bio.

@mit @mitsap @mitdusp Portrait of Jinhua Zhao standing with arms crossed against a light gray wall. He wears glasses, a beige quarter-zip sweater over a white collared shirt, and looks toward the camera with a slight smile.

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When it comes to tackling climate change, the solutions are getting bigger—and so are the opportunities to help push them forward. Prof. David Hsu of @mitdusp says that, whatever your expertise or passion, there’s a way for you to get involved. 🌎💡

Host: Madison Goldberg
Video production: Jessie Barrett
Music: Blue Dot Sessions

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I reposted my “obituary” of Anna to my “More, America” project. I did so because Anna’s death has fundamentally changed that project, and all of my writing. I also did so in order to add some photos of our life together as well as to link to the many institutions and people who shaped Anna and that Anna changed. This is a way I can say thank you and, selfishly, help keep Anna present in our minds—especially this week, which would have been her 45th birthday. We will gather this week in small and larger groups of her beloveds to celebrate her. I am a person of words. But I miss her more than words can express and more than my heart and body can hold. Here is that reposted obituary: https://moreamerica.substack.com/p/anna-bromberg-1981-2026-the-founder

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J-WAFS is pleased to announce that graduate students Hao Nghi Luu and Priyanka Salunkhe received 2026 J-WAFS Travel Grants to attend World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden! The conference offers students opportunities to deepen their understanding of water systems and to connect with and learn from professionals in the field. Travel grants are supported by J-WAFS Research Affiliate companies, Xylem Inc. and GoAigua.

Hao is a PhD candidate in materials science and engineering, conducting research in Professor Angela Belcher’s lab that involves engineering yeast strains that can latch onto and neutralize toxic elements in water supplies.

Priyanka is a first-year graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in city planning. She proposes using design as a method to move beyond technical solutions and re-imagine equitable urban futures.

Learn more about the conference and the candidates: https://jwafs.mit.edu/news/2026/j-wafs-awards-travel-grants-attend-stockholm-world-water-week Headshots of Hao and Priyanka, with text reading “Stockholm World Water Week Travel Grant Recipients Hao Nghi Luu and Priyanka Salunkhe.”

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Summer in Boston is in full swing! Meet the MONUM summer fellows working on making Boston a more beautiful and vibrant city.

Zoё Fahy (she/her) is an urban planner and educator whose practice is rooted in a deep respect for the challenges and opportunities of collaborative placemaking. A Master of City Planning candidate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Zoë brings nearly a decade of experience as a classroom teacher, much of it in Boston Public Schools, which grounds her commitment to equitable, community-centered public service.

Metis Christodoulou (she/they) is a Master of Early Education candidate at Boston University Wheelock. Prior to that she had a career in the game design industry where she became an expert on play and user experience. She’s excited to combine her knowledge of play and pedagogy to help MONUM tackle difficult problems, and to synthesize her learnings for Boston University’s Initiative on Cities.

Krista Galleberg (she/her) is an educator, community organizer and researcher. She is currently a Doctor of Philosophy student at Harvard Graduate School of Education where she works alongside practicing teachers to understand their hopes and challenges. Krista formerly taught elementary school and designed curriculum at High Tech High, an international leader for project-based education. She’s excited to apply her research and organizing skills to MONUM’s projects this summer.

Reb Leu (they/she) is a Master of City Planning candidate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology interested in building structures that support community and individual health and resiliency. With a background in Asian/American Studies, organizing, and education, she brings a strong foundation in analyzing systemic barriers and implementing effective, community-centered policies.

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🎓 What will the Class of 2026 take with them from MIT SA+P?

As part of this year’s Commencement celebration, graduating students reflected on what they will carry forward — while faculty shared what they hope will stay with them long after leaving MIT.

During the ceremony, Dean Hashim Sarkis described the class with a quality that surfaced again and again across the school: big-heartedness. Big-hearted in the way they approached each other, their work, and the world around them.

And perhaps that is what this place hopes to cultivate most: “excellence in the service of humanity.”

🎉 Congratulations to the MIT School of Architecture and Planning Class of 2026.

@mitcommencement @mitsap @mitmedialab @mitarchitecture @mitdusp @actmit @mit_lcau @mitdesignacademy @mitdesignx
@hashimsarkis @artsatmit

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✨ Introducing 2026 ACC Hong Kong Fellow: ZHOU Zhengnan, Professor of Architecture (Mainland China)

Individual Fellowship | Architecture | Mainland China→ United States | 4 months
Hsin Chong-K.N. Godfrey Yeh Education Fund: Tsinghua-MIT Exchange Fellowship
 
Zhou Zhengnan was selected for the Tsinghua-MIT Exchange Fellowship to attend the Special Program for Urban and Regional Studies (SPURS) for one semester. During the fellowship, Zhou will research sustainable architecture, urbanism, and methodologies for doctoral education. 
 
As an Associate Professor at the School of Architecture at Tsinghua University, Zhou’s research focuses on green architecture and urban design.
 
周正楠，建築系教授（中國大陸）
個人獎助計劃 | 建築 | 中國大陸 → 美國 | 4 個月
新昌－葉庚年教育基金：清華—MIT交流計劃
 
周正楠獲清華—MIT交流計劃獎助支持，赴麻省理工學院城市與區域研究特別項目(SPURS) 進行一學期的交流。周氏將研究可持續建築、城市主義以及博士教育方法論。
 
周氏現為清華大學建築學院副教授，主要以綠色建築與生態城市為研究議題。
 
https://www.arch.tsinghua.edu.cn/info/rw_jzx/1402

#AsianCulturalCouncil #ACCHongKong #ACCHongKongFellow #CulturalExchange #ZHOUZhengnan

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